Good question Christian, for this instance of "droves of people", here's what Merrium-Webster had to say:Christian wrote:what is a "drove"? I know I should know this and maybe once did know but the meaning escapes me.
Main Entry: 1drove
Pronunciation: 'drOv
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English drAf, from drIfan to drive -- more at DRIVE
1 : a group of animals driven or moving in a body
2 : a large number : CROWD -- usually used in plural especially with in <tourists arriving in droves> <stayed away in droves>
I think that the use of either the #1 definition or #2 definition would be dependent on whether or not you had read Thesenga's article. I've only read the email banter surround it but I think it would be safe to say his purpose would be to keep Southern Ill. bouldering safe for droves of people, #1 definition, whilst Sandy was probably meaning it in the #2 sense of the word.
Really, though, definitions are quite funny. M-W probably meant the #1 definition as in terms of a herd of cattle walking as if one unit, whereas the image in my head is a herd of elephants working their way within someone's body. (Oh that poor soul.) It really is a miracle that we can communicate at all and I'd hate to think about all the things that have been mistranslated for a lack of cultural understanding.
Yikes. (I think I had a Tomdarch out of body moment.)
