# What percentage minimally qualifies for the term "vast majority"?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-percentage-minimally-qualifies-for-the-term-vast-majority/794984>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [August 29, 2017, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-percentage-minimally-qualifies-for-the-term-vast-majority/794984 "2017-08-29T00:59:08Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 4

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**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\
**Post date:** [September 1, 2017, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-percentage-minimally-qualifies-for-the-term-vast-majority/794984/61 "2017-09-01T17:04:29Z")

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> [@kaylasdad99](#):
>
> Interesting side question: what if your “vast majority” is merely a vast _plurality_?
> 
> Option 1 is rated at 49%
> 
> Options 2-52 are 1% each.

Still doesn’t qualify IMO.

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**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\
**Post date:** [September 1, 2017, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-percentage-minimally-qualifies-for-the-term-vast-majority/794984/62 "2017-09-01T17:57:05Z")

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The vast majority here cannot agree on vast majority. 😃

I’d say X = 90% and Y = 60%.

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**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\
**Post date:** [September 4, 2017, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-percentage-minimally-qualifies-for-the-term-vast-majority/794984/63 "2017-09-04T04:30:04Z")

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I read a statistic last year that 75% of 50-year-old American women still have their moms, and my instant conclusion was that the “vast majority” do. So clearly I think 75% is within that frame, but I’m not totally sure what I’d consider the floor. It’s at least 70% though.

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**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\
**Post date:** [September 4, 2017, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-percentage-minimally-qualifies-for-the-term-vast-majority/794984/64 "2017-09-04T06:24:40Z")

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Surprisingly high!

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