MANY A BOY

Glikeria   Fri Jun 16, 2006 2:11 pm GMT
So you disagree with Lazar and Brennus, do you?
<This expression is mainly found in literature - it's very rarely heard in vernacular speech>
Chris   Fri Jun 16, 2006 3:43 pm GMT
Well, I've never heard anyone use that expression before, in my whole life, but I certainly wouldn't raise an eyebrow, or think twice if someone used it, in contrast, to say, if someone started using "thou" and "ye", for example.
Travis   Sat Jun 17, 2006 9:53 am GMT
At least for me, "many a time" does not seem off, whereas "many's the time" seems a bit akward even though I know I have seen it in writing at times.

Note though that this kind of construction is actually not limited to "many", as one can find other things in the same kind of position, such as "what", "such", and "not". Usage examples include:

"What a nice day it is!"
"Such a machine is rather obsolete these days."
"Not a thing was in sight."

There is a similar construction using "quite" and the definite article instead of the indefinite article. One example of such is:

"That is quite the forum there."
Uriel   Sat Jun 17, 2006 2:31 pm GMT
Exactly. That's why you wouldn't raise an eybrow, even if you rarely hear a particular permutation of that form -- the form itself is common and used all the time.
Glikeria   Sat Jun 17, 2006 7:38 pm GMT
Sorry, I don't see much similarity - if any- between "many a boy" and "such a boy". They are as different as the plural and singular are, IMHO.
Never mind, I've learned a lot from the thread and the bottom line is: I shouldn't use "many a boy" actively.
Thanks, folks.