April 26, 2019, 06:44
GeoffMultiple?
I saw this in a news story: "A semi driver is facing charges after multiple people were killed ..." How can one have multiple people? Several, or few, or many, yes, but multiple? Several segments of people? Hmmmmm...
April 28, 2019, 16:13
GeoffI am beside myself with disbelief!
April 29, 2019, 13:46
bethree5quote:
That's a perfect character for our times! A dittohead! An echo chamber! The sound of thousands hitting the "share" button!
April 29, 2019, 13:57
bethree5Geoff, I wonder if "multiple" is borrowed from legalistic definitions. It sounds as though it should be followed by "[> # but < than #]"-- borrowing the sound of precision and 'science' to enhance what is actually a lack of specificity...
April 29, 2019, 19:24
KallehI have always thought "few" and "several" were confusing. They purport to indicate specific numbers, but they really don't because it depends on one's perspective. "Many," on the other hand seems quite similar to "multiple" - vague, but at least it they admit it!