Myriad

[Matt Morrison]

So it was probably only within the last five years* that I learned (or thought I had) that "myriad" basically is used as "many" and therefore you shouldn't say "there are a myriad of issues" (as in "there are a many of issues") but rather "there are myriad issues" (as in "there are many issues").

Like any good twat, I was going to correct someone on the Internet and decided to search it up again.

According to this top result (I didn't look any further), basically you can use whichever you want, just remembering that of course if you use "of" then you need "a" in front. It's either "a myriad of x" or "myriad x" but they are basically interchangeable. Yes, one's technically a noun and one's an adjective but as far as I can see that's an uninteresting difference considering in both usages the word will always mean the same thing.

It's good to remember that it comes from an actual countable number (originally 10,000), but that also isn't particular useful as you'd happily say "there are a hundred issues" but you'd never say "there are hundred issues" or "there are a hundred of issues" so it's not like you imagine it as a number in your sentence construction.

Here are the 45 uses of the word on the forum: search.php?keywords=myriad (including declarations of course). Highlights include:

• Phil stating that it's never correct to use the singular version with an "of"
• Corby going from never having heard it used without "a / of" in 2009 to using it without himself in 2013
• Scrolling down to asking the question yourself 13 years ago and realising the whole post you're writing is basically pointless but you've got this far so you're going to submit it anyway. (* damn, time flies)

An "interesting" offshoot is when you're referring to a particular countable list (not sure that's the right way to say it) and "a" gets replaced with "the", surely there's no difference between these two at all and they are both equally valid?:

• I felt confused by the myriad of incestuous familial linkages.
• I felt confused by the myriad incestuous familial linkages.

Overall I'm just kind of disappointed. I thought I knew something clever and I either got it wrong, got it right, or most likely it just doesn't even matter which and if the sentence scans properly then it's probably absolutely fine.

Do you have an opinion? Which do you usually go for? Do you panic every time you write it?

[Gavin Chipper]

It's not a word I really use. But I was very much aware that there were people out there that say it has to be used like "many".

And going off on a tangent, are there many common or commonish words/phrases that you're perfectly well aware of but just never happen to use yourself?

Edit - What I find funny about that article you linked to is that it's by a guy called Robert Lee Brewer, but it also has a quote from him in it on a background that people would use on Facebook etc. for "inspirational" or "profound" quotes, as if that somehow bolsters what he's saying. The quote is by the guy who wrote the article!

[Fred Mumford]

I think when aged about 12 I wondered why the word was used without the "a" infront and was told that the word means 10,000 and so should have the same grammatical treatment. It had never been an issue for me since. Thanks.

[Marc Meakin]

I think when aged about 12 I wondered why the word was used without the "a" infront and was told that the word means 10,000 and so should have the same grammatical treatment. It had never been an issue for me since. Thanks.

Marc Meakin posts a myriad of self indulgent nonsense topics