Which story to believe?

You read Bloomberg BusinessWeek of Jan. 22, 2018, and find this story: “Out from Under the ‘Bamboo Ceiling,’ ” with the sub-head: “Silicon Valley is losing talented Chinese engineers to, well, China.” And in the story: “While many recent Chinese college graduates still covet American citizenship and a prestigious Valley name on their resumes, many are quickly tiring of what they call a ‘bamboo ceiling,’ a relative lack of opportunities to advance to leadership roles. Often their home country seems to offer a better chance to work on grander problems — and, perhaps, become fabulously wealthy.”

Then you pick up The Boston Globe, Feb 19, 2018, and a story by STAT (the pharma/science news service) headlined: “Why ‘sea turtles’ won’t go home,” with a sub-head: “Many US-trained Chinese scientists and entrepreneurs remain here, despite their government’s’ attempt to lure them back from the United States.”

So you have “many” Chinese who go home, while “many” stay in the US. Our dictionary definition of “many” begins: “When a reporter has absolutely no idea exactly how many, it’s simply ‘many’…” Tough old editors would demand “How many?” They no longer exist.

File under: Thank the media gods there’s still a choice.

www.JournaleseDictionary.com