semantic drift: "several" = many

[Joel S. Berson]

At 6/7/2008 08:46 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>A reader chides the Bouolder, CO, _Camera_ for printing a letter
>that urged patients to throw away their Prozac ("a known toxin") and
>breathe deeply instead (June 7, 2008, p. 12A):
>
>   "Not everyone benefits from talk therapy. While it can be a
> valuable part of the process, several people still live with
> chemical imbalances that cause anxiety."
>
>   I presume that this chap learned that _several_ "means 'some'"
> and took it from there.
>
>   FWIW, ISTR I saw this once or twice in freshman writing twenty or
> more years ago.

I hear a resurrection of the sense "separate, distinct, particular,
individual" --  that is, "individual people still live with ..." --
and anticipate soon hearing from this speaker "many several":  "many
several people still live with chemical imbalances that cause
anxiety" works for me!  But then again, I've been reading much
18th-century writing recently.

:-)
Joel

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