Many / much issues

[poli]

Originally Posted by aleCcowaN

OK, so I suppose the subjective nuance is present in English too. I heard the phrase from Antiques Roadshow's expert Eric Knowles speaking of something not recent nor painfully slow. I don't remember exactly but it was in regard to something like the kind of piece that had not been seen or the kind of craft that had not been done 'in many a long year' that reinforced the sense of rarity, out of fashion or whatever attributes the item may have had.

The term many a day sounds old fashioned and poetic sounding. It may be used in telling old tales. It's not quite part of everyday speech, but always understood because it is a term you may hear in childrens' stories. Most kids grow up hearing the term from fairy tales read to them or in movie adaptations of such stories.