Where does "big" come before "old"?
Where does "three" come before "triangular"?
Where does "intelligent" come before "studious"?
Where does "smooth" come before "pearly"?
Where does "beautiful" come before "green"?
There is one place (or rule, or method) where all these orders make sense. Can you find the key that satisfies all conditions?
Notes:
The alphabet is not a part of this puzzle. I know that four out of five pairs are in alphabetical order, but that's actually irrelevant.
I did not come up with this ordering system. It's much older than anyone on this forum and everyone here knows what it is - you might not be able to define it on the first try, but you use it all the time.
All of the orders follow the rule exactly. There is no stretching/bending of rules.