[General] pretty much of time

[salvador.dal1950]

Hello, I don't understand the grammar of this sentence:

• ...most of the people on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time.

It's from the book "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", first paragraph.

Is "pretty much of" standard English or is just a whim of the author?

Thank you :up:

 

[Barb_D]

I didn't think it was odd when I read it, but yes, it is odd. They were unhappy most of the time.

 

[MikeNewYork]

In this context, I can live with it.

 

[probus]

The author, Douglas Adams, was writing humour. When you do that, you can get away with things that expository writers cannot. "Pretty much of the time" is a little bit funny.

 

[Tdol]

It's whimsical.

 

[Barb_D]

That book is one of my favorites.
I often think of it when reading a certain section of this forum.

 

[salvador.dal1950]

Thank you guys. It's so difficult to get the niceties of English sometimes. :-|