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Electrum Posted 14 years ago
Grammar

MULTIPLE vs. MANY

Here's a quotation:
Compelling evidence from multiple experts that the birth certificate released by Barack Obama on April 27, 2011, is a fraud.

Shouldn't this be many experts?


Multiple experts should mean experts each of whom has expertise in several disciplines, shouldn't it?
  

Top answer

electrum Shouldn't this be many experts? No. That would be a lot of experts.

— CalifJim

  • electrum Shouldn't this be many experts?
  • No.
  • That would be a lot of experts.
  • Off-hand, I'd say at least ten.
  • 'multiple' simply suggests more than one; as few as two, really.
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10 Answers
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electrumShouldn't this be many experts?
No. That would be a lot of experts. Off-hand, I'd say at least ten. 'multiple' simply suggests more than one; as few as two, really.
electrumMultiple experts should mean experts each of whom has expertise in several disciplines, shouldn't it?
No. That meaning would never come to my
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Multiple experts should mean experts each of whom has expertise in several disciplines, shouldn't it?-- Those would be polymaths.
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CalifJimThat meaning would never come to my mind.
What I'm getting at is correct usage, not what would come to someone's mind.
Multiple vitamins are not a lot of vitamins.They are tablets each containing several vitamins.
Electric multiple units are not just a lot of metro cars. They are trains consis
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I am getting increasingly irritated by the indiscriminate use of the word "multiple" when a few, many or several will do: multiple gun shots; multiple perpetrators; multiple bruises, etc. It has taken over in the media because it sounds more important.
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The mistaken use of "multiple" to mean "many" or "several" is becoming very common, and may soon cease to be a mistake. Older writers generally reserve "multiple" for items that are in effect copies of one another.
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Once it's on television, it's over.
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'Multiple', when used in place of 'many', implies that the items.are identical.
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'Multiple' in place of 'many' is very, very ugly.

Also, incorrect usages do not become correct merely because enough ignorant people fail to notice that they are incorrect.

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I agree totally. 'Multiple' means one thing with many/several parts or facets like a 'multiple personality'. Many or Several refer to more than one individual.

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I am uncomfortable with the standard of English usage coming from the media instead of our schools. It suggests that accuracy and standardization of language are not as important as convenience and popularity, or that our educational standards are not important. Furthermore, it also tends to suggest the influence of the mass media in

a frightening way. If language as presented in the med

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