Vocab issue

[StillStunned]

I replied that I had a myriad objections.

Walk into a restaurant. Waiter: "Do you have a reservation?" Me: "I have several, but I'll give it a go anyway."

My wife won't let me use this joke in public anymore.

 

[Britva415]

Oh I don't like that version. It's scratchy.

Same - "myriad objections" without the "a" would work. But "a myriad objections" sounds as wrong as "a can whoop-ass."

 

[Kumquatqueen]

I'd go for 'myriad cats' myself, or the classic collective noun of a clowder of cats.

 

[SkyBubble]

Open a can and they will come.

True.

 

[SimonDoom]

If you like the word "myriad," I'd turn it into an adjective. "the myriad cats" rather than "the myriad of cats." It sounds a bit more right to me that way. But, again, this is very subjective stuff. The way you did it is fine.

 

[ElectricBlue]

If you like the word "myriad," I'd turn it into an adjective. "the myriad cats" rather than "the myriad of cats." It sounds a bit more right to me that way. But, again, this is very subjective stuff. The way you did it is fine.

"That's a lot of cats," EB said, walking around the corner to see the confrontation of cats that caterwauled on the wall.

 

[SimonDoom]

"That's a lot of cats," EB said, walking around the corner to see the confrontation of cats that caterwauled on the wall.

EB wondered how he was going to explain the myriad cats to the woman he planned to bring home from the coffee house that evening. "I hope she's not allergic," he thought.

 

[usable001]

Singular "myriad" FTW.

Fuck those spellcheckers. They're nothing but trouble.

One of the reasons I like forums for these discussions. Computers are poor at explaining things like it got hung up on "a myriad" vs "the myriads." The problem wasn't the word myriad, but the word before it.

Humans catch (and more importantly can explain) that kind of stuff. When a human explained substituting a word like thousand/thousands, it made sense to me.

 

[anthrodisiac]

Thanks to all!

It might be, Looking over the fence , I pondered the myriad of cats infesting the local Cat Lady's yard.

This seems fine to me, as long as it fits the character voice, which would be my bigger concern. Since you're in first-person POV, you have a bit more leeway to write it potentially "incorrectly" or "strangely," so it more comes down to how the character would say it than anything else, in my opinion.

 

[ElectricBlue]

EB wondered how he was going to explain the myriad cats to the woman he planned to bring home from the coffee house that evening. "I hope she's not allergic," he thought.

EB looked at Simon's comment. "He clearly doesn't understand pussy," he pondered right back, shaking his head in a moment of stunned disbelief.

 

[XerXesXu]

Given the choice between 1,2,3 or 4 words, I would choose one:

My daughter asked if I had objections to her marrying Willoughby. I replied, 'Myriad.'

Not necessarily that one.

To ponder is a mental, not visual, process. One can 'see' cats over a wall and 'ponder', Are they myriad? (Strictly - Be they myriad [subjunctive]. The question mark is optional because it's grammatically a question, as opposed to: They be myriad? when mandatory because grammatically a statement.

 

[anthrodisiac]

I've been kinda letting this percolate, and I think that while "myriad of cats" is correct, it does read a little stiff to me. I feel like "myriad cats" reads a bit smoother.

Looking over the fence, I pondered the myriad cats infesting the local Cat Lady's yard.

This feels a little more natural, which is always my preference in 1P. Of course, you know this story and character better than I, so I could be off-base, but my inclination would be toward dropping "of."

 

[TheLobster]

If you like the word "myriad," I'd turn it into an adjective. "the myriad cats" rather than "the myriad of cats." It sounds a bit more right to me that way. But, again, this is very subjective stuff. The way you did it is fine.

Making it into an adjective would make me question how do you recognize that a given cat is myriad, and whether can one cat be more myriad (myriader?) than another, and what’s the scale with which we can measure feline myriadity in general.

 

[Britva415]

Making it into an adjective would make me question how do you recognize that a given cat is myriad

How do you recognize an assorted donut?

 

[TheLobster]

How do you recognize an assorted donut?

I don’t question donuts. I just appreciate when they’re there.