"good" as an adverb

pdh0224 · Post by **pdh0224** » Thu Nov 25, 2004 2:09 am

Dear teacher,

These women and a good many others, both frequent and occasional travelers, say they are furious about recent changes in airport security that have increased both the number and the intensity of pat-downs at the nation's 450 commercial airports. And they are not keeping quiet.

Q :The "good" is an adverb, modifying "many". But I could find the usage of it. It says that a way of saying "well" that many people think is not correct. Isn't the usage of "good" as "well" really correct? Why did a writer of a newpaper use a wrong expression? Is my dictionary wrong?

All the best,

Alan · Post by **Alan** » Thu Nov 25, 2004 7:52 am

'A good many' is an idiomatic construction meaning 'a fairly large number of'. The only comparable construction that springs to mind is 'a good few', which, despite appearances, is actually more or less the same in meaning.