[Ads-l] most/majority

[Dan Goncharoff]

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"?

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".
> >>
> >>
> >> ------------------------------------------------------------
> >> 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