This site uses cookies. Some of these cookies are essential to the operation of the site, while others help to improve your experience by providing insights into how the site is being used. For more information, please see the ProZ.com privacy policy.
Cookie settings
  1. KudoZ™ Top
  2. English
  3. General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters

\"a hundred of\"

English translation: around a hundred

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
English term or phrase:\"a hundred of\"
Selected answer:around a hundred
Entered by: Yvonne Gallagher

09:09 May 9, 2016
English language (monolingual) [Non-PRO]
Art/Literary - General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters / anecdote
English term or phrase: \"a hundred of\"
Hello Everyone,

The following is an excerpt from the book "The Hard Thing about Hard Things", by Ben Horowitz:

The other day I threw a big barbecue at my house and invited a hundred of my closest friends. These
types of gatherings aren’t unusual. My brother-in-law, Cartheu, and I have been barbecuing for years,
and my skills have earned me the nickname from my African American friends “the Jackie Robinson
of Barbecue.” I crossed the color line.

A colleague of mine and I are discussing the first sentence and cannot agree on the meaning of "a hundred of": One of us thinks the meaning of this expression is literal and it means exactly “100” guests, and the other thinks that it has been used figuratively, and therefore means "many," but definitely fewer than one hundred. She argues that how is it possible for a person to have 100 CLOSE friends. By the way she backs her arguments by evidence from:
http://www.dictionary.com/browse/hundred
http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/engl...

Thank you!
Mohammad Ali Moinfar (X)
Iran
Local time: 00:10
around a hundred
Explanation:
not an exact number and don't worry about "closest friends"...people say this but "friends" here could mean an assortment of friends, relatives acquaintances,neighbours, and /or colleagues. generally people you know and like and want to invite to a party.

I mean look at Facebook where some people have thousands of "friends"! So don't take it too literally...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 8 days (2016-05-17 10:17:34 GMT) Post-grading
--------------------------------------------------

Glad to have helped
Selected response from:

Yvonne Gallagher
Ireland
Local time: 21:40
Grading comment
3 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
4 +7around a hundred
Yvonne Gallagher
3 +4hundred of
Bashiqa
3a lot of
Veronica Allievi


  

Answers


14 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +4
hundred of


Explanation:
He invited 100 guests even though it is difficult to imagine 100 'close friends'.
Personally I would count close friends in tens not hundreds, but different people have different ideas of 'close friends'.

Bashiqa
France
Local time: 22:40
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4
Notes to answerer
Asker: Dear Bashiqa, Thank you for your answer and explanation. All the best


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Tony M
27 mins
  -> Thank you.
agree  Yasutomo Kanazawa
57 mins
  -> Thank you.
agree  LSanders
6 hrs
agree  acetran
1 day 7 hrs
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

3 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
a lot of


Explanation:
at least in our country, when we want to imply "a lot of" we can say "a hundred of", which by no means accounts for any precise number, it just implies "an important number of"

Veronica Allievi
Local time: 17:40
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in SpanishSpanish
Notes to answerer
Asker: Dear Veronica, Thank you for your answer and explanation. All the best

Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

12 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +7
around a hundred


Explanation:
not an exact number and don't worry about "closest friends"...people say this but "friends" here could mean an assortment of friends, relatives acquaintances,neighbours, and /or colleagues. generally people you know and like and want to invite to a party.

I mean look at Facebook where some people have thousands of "friends"! So don't take it too literally...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 8 days (2016-05-17 10:17:34 GMT) Post-grading
--------------------------------------------------

Glad to have helped

Yvonne Gallagher
Ireland
Local time: 21:40
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 659
Notes to answerer
Asker: Dear Gallagy, Thank you for your answer and explanation. All the best


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Jean-Claude Gouin
12 mins
  -> Merci! Should have said "100 could be an exact number but not necessarily"
agree  Christine Andersen: If you invite your close friends´ partners and children too, as one does on these occasions, it can be difficult to keep numbers below 100!
22 mins
  -> Thanks:-). Yes, indeed! And the neighbours have to be invited or they might complain about the noise etc! But invitee numbers don't have to be so precise for a BBQ as for e.g. a wedding
agree  Tony M: Yes, it might just be slight exaggeration... seems to be suggesting he had a great many friends, and even only inviting the (relatively) closest ones, there were still 100 of them! / Indeed! Although I guess such a public figure may have more...
28 mins
  -> Thanks! I think some people use the word "friends" rather loosely these days instead of "acquaintances"
agree  Jack Doughty
55 mins
  -> Thanks:-)
agree  Yasutomo Kanazawa
59 mins
  -> Thanks:-)
agree  Edith Kelly
3 hrs
  -> Thanks:-)
agree  philgoddard: I think the writer is showing off.
3 hrs
  -> Thanks:-) yep, he seems to be bragging...
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)



Login or register (free and only takes a few minutes) to participate in this question.

You will also have access to many other tools and opportunities designed for those who have language-related jobs (or are passionate about them). Participation is free and the site has a strict confidentiality policy.

Return to KudoZ list

KudoZ™ translation help

The KudoZ network provides a framework for translators and others to assist each other with translations or explanations of terms and short phrases.

See also:
ProZ.com term search
Search millions of term translations
Close search
Term search
  • All of ProZ.com
  • Term search
  • Jobs
  • Forums
  • Multiple search