Why "respect you most" instead of "respect you more" in the following quote by Samuel Johnson?
"Go into the street and give one man a lecture on morality and another a shilling, and see which will respect you most." British Literature 1640-1789
I can't figure out why Johnson used "most" instead of "more". Am I missing something here? Is it grammatical as it is?
There could be two scenarios.
A man who received a shilling respects you more than the other man (who was lectured) respects you.
A man who received a shilling respects you 100% wholeheartedly and the other man respects you only 50% halfheartedly.
If you write the sentence based on the first scenario, I think using "more" is more appropriate. However, if it is based on the second scenario, I don't see any reason why the superlative can't be used for the sentence.
I think the adverb most in your example means
To the greatest extent
For example:
A: Who do you like more between Adel and Taylor Swift?
B: I like Adel more than (I like) Taylor Swift. (comparison )
A: Who do you like most between Adel and Taylor Swift?
B: I like Taylor Swift most (to the maximum extent that I can possibly like any person)
I could be wrong, but this is the way I understand the difference.