Let's settle this once and for all: Myriad

Factual Questions
1

Ok I want to settle this once and for all, if only for my own self.

Myriad. How is it properly used?

There are two ways:

  1. “There are a myriad ways to kill a man”

  2. There are myriad ways to kill a man"
    Do we put the “a” in there or not?? I am in the party of putting the “a” in there because the word myriad is like the word bunch; there isn’t a set number you are referring two, just a general set of things. It would be the same as saying “There are a bunch of ways to kill a man.” You wouldn’t say “There are bunch ways to kill a man”.

But I have been told that this is wrong, you need to say “There are myriad…”

So help? someone? Can we settle this once and for all how to properly say it?

2

Example #1 should be “There are a myriad of ways to kill a man.” That is what was once considered the “correct” usage of the word. Myriad in its original form was a noun meaning “a huge-ass number” or “many thousands,” that kinda thing. These days it’s often used as an adjective, as in example #2.

In short: either one. Personally I prefer #1, but that’s because “myriad” sounds like its fellow nouns “dyad” and “triad.”

But it’s never “a myriad ways,” because that’s just weird. :slight_smile: Also, this should probably go in GQ rather than Cafe Society, no?

3

The first way would be correct with the additon of one word: “There are a myriad of ways to kill a man.”

Either usage is correct - it can be a noun or an adjective.

4

I guess I didn’t totally think of that, I put it here (CS) cuz it’s language. If Mods wanna move it, go ahead.

5

Myriad is from the Greek for 10,000. The question is whether it is supposed to be used as a quantity (there are 10,000 ways to kill a man), or the name of a quantity, as in “each box contains a dozen donuts”. Anyone?

6

Actually, “a myriad ways” is defensible, if we understand myriad to mean a large, though not necessarily specified, number. If we can have a hundred ways or a thousand ways, then we can also have a myriad ways.

7

Except that “a hundred” and “a thousand” is a specific number, even if it’s understood to be a figure of speech.

8

“Myriad” is both a noun and an adjective.

9

Don’t forget Diana Nyad.

10

Side note: Although deprecated, the metric prefix for 10,000 is myria-. I like to describe one of our large tanks at work as being of 18 myrialiters capacity. Hardly anyone even raises an eyebrow.

11

Probably because they’re used to you by now. :wink:

12

There are a few ways to use the word.

13

Are there really 10 000 ways to kill a man? I suggest “multifarious,” or “diverse.”

14

If you’re going for a direct replacement, diverse would be a really poor choice in both given sentences.

15

So is “a myriad”; it means ten thousand.