Many a scientist...

student   Mon Oct 05, 2009 5:14 pm GMT
I have this sentence from the book I am reading and I am not sure if this certain structure is acceptable or if it is just a typo. Here it is:

MANY A SCIENTIST had engaged three or four lab assistants to hold down a monkey while he administered an injection - only to have the prehensile tail whip up, grasp the syringe, and fling it across the room.

I capitalized the questioned words. What do you think?
Thanks!
Guest   Mon Oct 05, 2009 5:26 pm GMT
Not a typo.
An example:

http://www.amazon.com/Sailor-Sea-Witch-Preston-McClear/product-reviews/1929084110
Customer Reviews
The Sailor and the Sea Witch

Many a Fun Night Will Be Spent Reading This Aloud!

"'Best beware, lad,' he said. `There is a sea witch known to prowl these waters. Many a man has been swept away on nights like this one.'"

Indeed! Read this sumptuous seafaring book with a briny pirate's accent and you and your child will be similarly swept away. Preston McClear and Nicholas Dollak's exotic tale of bravery, danger, love, and mystery is told with bravado and panache. The book is perhaps best read aloud: There's an element of parody here that's captured best by the spoken word. (For example, the phrases "many a sailor," "many a man," and "many an adventure" all appear within the first six pages. At first, this repetition seemed like an oversight, later I realized what fun these phrases contain when read aloud.)
student   Mon Oct 05, 2009 5:30 pm GMT
Great! Thanks!

Not many times do you see such structures. I know I have not seen many.
upstater   Tue Oct 06, 2009 12:03 am GMT
<<Not many times do you see such structures. I know I have not seen many. >>

This construction is not rare at all.
Geto Boys   Sun Oct 11, 2009 7:00 am GMT
NIGGA FROM THE GUTTA MUTHA FUCKA
me   Tue Oct 13, 2009 12:13 am GMT
It must be an AE thing
Truth   Tue Oct 13, 2009 12:40 am GMT
more like a NE amirite?
Caspian   Wed Oct 14, 2009 6:48 pm GMT
It's not an AE thing. We use it a lot here in England too, I think it's universal.