[Ads-l] most/majority

[Laurence Horn]

> On Oct 22, 2019, at 2:59 PM, Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> 
> Now I am confused. The Liberals did win a plurality, but not a majority.
> Why would the newsreader have intended to say "not a plurality”?

What I meant to say (elliptically as it was) was not

With the Liberals winning most of the seats but not a plurality…

which would be doubly wrong, but 

With the Liberals winning a plurality of the seats but not a majority…

Sorry for the unnecessary unclarity.

LH
> 
> On Tue, Oct 22, 2019, 1:15 PM Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu> wrote:
> 
>>> On Oct 22, 2019, at 12:58 PM, Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Or "the most" instead of "most”.
>> 
>> Probably so, but although, as Bill says, the news reader (or writer) must
>> have intended “plurality”, “majority” is also often (mis)used in the same
>> way.  Proportions is tricky.
>> 
>> 
>>> 
>>> On Tue, Oct 22, 2019, 12:40 PM Bill Mullins <amcombill at hotmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>> 
>>>> From NPR's hourly news this morning (the 10/22/2019 8AM ET set here
>>>> https://www.npr.org/podcasts/500005/npr-news-now )
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> "With Trudeau winning most of the seats but not a majority. . . ".
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> I suppose he meant "plurality" instead of "most".
>>>> 
>>>> 
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>>>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>>> 
>>> 
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>>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>> 
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>> 
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org