the meaning of "far more places than NY"

[optimistic pessimist]

Dear all,

It will be popular in far more places than New York.

In the sentence above, "far more places than New York" means "far more places other than New York"?

If so, is it the same as "many more place other than New York"?


Thank you!

OP

 

[spongie]

Dear all,

It will be popular in far more places than New York.

In the sentence above, "far more places than New York" means "far more places other than New York"? Yes.

If so, is it the same as "many more places other than New York"? Yes.


Thank you!

OP

See above.

Not a teacher.

 

[SoothingDave]

It means far (or many) more places than just (or only) New York. Not "other than" New York.

 

[Barb_D]

Sorry, I agree with Dave and disagree with Spongie and the Parser (which is rare).

I think the most likely meaning is "New York, plus many other places as well."

A: What do you think of my new iPhone app that does ...
B: Hmm. Well, I think people in New York will really like it. Yes, it's sure to be popular with people in New York.
A: Are you kidding? This will be popular in far more places than New York!

It's possible that one person suggested it would not be popular in New York and this reply is meant to convey that it may not be popular in New York, but it would be popular in many other places, but that's not how I read it.

Of course if we had CONTEXT we could give you a better answer!

 

[TheParser]

Great answer. I have deleted my post so that I can think more about the matter.

 

[optimistic pessimist]

Dear all,

Thank you, everyone. Barb_D, the original sentence is in the last paragraph of this article about Twitter. But your explanation perfectly makes sense to me. I really appreciate it.

The networking hurricane - FT.com

OP

 

[spongie]

It means far (or many) more places than just (or only) New York. Not "other than" New York.

You're absolutely right Dave.

"far more places other than New York" - It means that New York is not included, right? I did not think it through.

Thank you for your feedback Barb & Dave.

 

[SoothingDave]

You're absolutely right Dave.

"far more places other than New York" - It means that New York is not included, right? I did not think it through.

Thank you for your feedback Barb & Dave.

Yes.

 

[TheParser]

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


Hello, Optimistic Pessimist:

I have been thinking about your question for 24 hours, and I now realize why SoothingDave and Barbara said that "other" would

not be an appropriate word for your sentence.

*****

(1) I think that "other" would be appropriate only in something like:

"It will be popular in places [which are] other than New York." That is, popular in places that are not New York. But I read your

link, and that is clearly not the meaning. (Thanks to the one and only Professor George Oliver Curme for reminding me of the missing words "which are.")

(2) The word "more" in your sentence makes it a comparative sentence: It will be popular in more places than New York.

(a) My books tell me that if the words "more" and "than" did not exist, then we would have to express this idea something like:

It will be popular in places beyond the degree in which New York is a place.

(i) For example, "He is taller than I" would be "He is tall beyond the degree in which I am tall." (This is a theory of many books,

but Professor Quirk's magisterial grammar does NOT agree. For us ordinary speakers, however, this theory seems really neat.)

*****

Thanks again to you, Spongie, SoothingDave, and Barbara. I certainly learned a lot.

And thanks to usingenglish.com for its birthday greeting: I have lived for 3/4 of a century.

 

[optimistic pessimist]

Hi The Parser,

Thank you for your post above and happy birthday to you.

OP