I don’t know anyone who explicitly knows the rules for ordering multiple adjectives in English, but we can all immediately hear when they’re aren’t followed:
When a number of adjectives are used together, the order depends on the function of the adjective. The usual order is:
- Quantity — four, ten, a few, several
- Value/Opinion — delicious, charming, beautiful
- Size — tall, tiny, huge
- Temperature — hot, cold
- Age — old, young, new, 14-year-old
- Shape — square, round
- Colour — red, purple, green
- Origin — Swedish, Victorian, Chinese
- Material — glass, silver, wooden
French teachers of English as a second language know the order, and drill their students on it: Quantité, Valeur / opinion, Taille, Température, Âge, Forme, Couleur, Origine, Matière.
…oops, I didn’t click the link in the original article and just linked to the French version, which I had pulled up independently after seeing this on the LanguageLog. D’oh!
Or:
Quantity
General value/opinion
Specific value/opinion
Size
Attractiveness/Sexiness (but, then, does temperature count for this? No, because, “foxy”!)
Temperature
Age
Shape (Age and Shape seem to be in order contention)
Color (USA! USA! USA!)
Pattern
Origin/Nationality
Material
Purpose
Slate had a pretty good article on this subject.
http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/the_good_word/2014/08/the_study_of_adjective_order_and_gsssacpm.html