undefined | Better HN

0 pointsJedd8y ago0 comments

There are many of reasons why I'm not going to calmly agree with the audacious claim that 'both uses are acceptable today'.

0 comments

superplussed8y ago

Of course both are acceptable, why is this an audacious claim?

JeddOP8y ago

Because it invites (not begs) the question 'to whom are they both acceptable?'.

People that contribute to thefreedictionary.com, evidently.

randallsquared8y ago

And people who contribute to the OED, in both the 1989 and 2003 editions, evidently.

http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/124538

http://www.oed.com/oed2/00154839;jsessionid=AC4DB817EFBADA5F...

I have had similar experiences, though, where I was convinced that some word or phrase usage was just incorrect, and where it turned out that I had just not happened across it. Fortunately, a minute of research can today fix any such misconceptions!

kapep8y ago

thefreedictionary.com is only one of many dictionaries that use "myriad of" in their examples. Here are some more: http://www.yourdictionary.com/myriad

A quick Google Ngram search supports the claims from thefreedictionary, that "a myriad" or "myriads" was used first and that "myriad" as an adjective was only used later: https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=%28myriad_NOUN...

It looks like "myriad of" has been correct in the past and is still used widely.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse