I’m noticing more and more educated and articulate people on TV using the collective noun “a bunch of,” too often and I think inappropriately. For, example, “a bunch of alcohol” and “a bunch of hooliganism”.
It’s fair enough (obviously) when talking about flowers/grapes/bananas/keys, but far too overused for other things.
It needs to be stamped out. Not least because it will soon, presumably, become the norm in Britain.
The phrase evidently has crossed the barrier between “things that can be counted” and “things that can be measured”. People have already lost the distinction between “number” and “amount”, e.g. “amount of voters”, so I guess this phrase is just following the misuse.
Language evolves whether you like it or not. It can’t be and shouldn’t be fossilized.
Are you quite sure they’re educated and articulate?
It is simply becoming an even lower register form of a lot of, which modifies both count and non-count nouns. If we can handle a lot of alcohol, we can handle a bunch of alcohol. Bunch and lot will become synonymous for these particular usages.
I am, yes.
It’s more like debasing the language.
The correct term is, “Buttload”.
Whereas a smaller amount is a [sic] ass pocket.
I have this CD! My favorite is “Tojo Told Hitler”.
“Metric assload” anywhere other than the USA.
The meter is about 10% more than a yard, and a metric tonne is about 10% more than a US ton. Furthermore, a liter is about 10% more than a US quart.
So I figure that a metric shitload is about 10% more than a regular shitload. If that helps, any.
“No, I said ‘SHIP me a ton of bricks.’”
I prefer saying a shit load of…
But to be polite in mixed company I say a bunch of…
Cuz it’s not like Britain has ever had any slang or anything like that. (Seriously, some British regional accents are absolutely atrocious. And I say this as someone with a Pittsburgh accent)
The Mpnty Python crew once did an interview, in which John Cleese compared themselves to Terry Gilliam (their off-camera guy), who was the only American among them.
They fondly described Gilliam as being totally crass, uneducated, unsophisticated and…a typical American.
As proof, they quoted Gilliam himself:
When they were all flying together from New York to London, Gilliam looked out the window at the ocean, and said "“Hey look guys—there’s a whole bunch of water down there”.
I’ve used that term a bunch of times.
I blame Fritos. Munch a bunch of…
By the way, which is greater: a shitload or a buttload?
English is the most mangled language you can find, used and abused by everyone from every corner of the globe since forever. There’s nothing pure or eloquent about it, so you can hardly debase it.
And that’s why it’s such a rich language, so brilliant for literary arts - we should celebrate it in all its forms.
We need to eliminate standardized spelling if we’re really going to succeed at the whole building a rich tapestry of language thing.