by and large
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\n \n Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 18, 2024 is:\n \n
\n \n\n by and large • \\BYE-und-LAHRJ\\ • adverb
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By and large is another way of saying "in general" or "on the whole."
\n\n// By and large, I like the way things have gone.
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"\u2026 HBO\u2019s Insecure, created, written, and produced by [Issa] Rae, \u2026 [is] a beautifully shot, deliciously sound-designed show centered on the friendship of Issa and Molly, two black women in their 30s living in L.A. Insecure is, by and large, for black women and by black women; its return is a refreshing addition to my weekly viewing." \u2014 Tyler Tynes, The Ringer, 12 Apr. 2020
\n \n \n\n Did you know?
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By and large means \u201cin general\u201d or "on the whole" in most contexts, but in sailors\u2019 lingo of yore, whence the phrase arose, by and large described a vessel alternately sailing as directly into the wind as possible (typically within about 45 degrees of the wind)\u2014that is, by\u2014and away from the direction from which the wind is blowing, with the wind hitting the vessel\u2019s widest point\u2014that is, large. (Note that this by also appears in the term full and by: "sailing as directly into the wind as possible and with all sails full.") William Bourne\u2019s 1578 book Inventions or Devises offers insight into the phrase\u2019s original use: \u201c\u2026 to make a ship to draw or go but little into the water, and to hold a good wind, and to sail well both by and large, were very necessary \u2026\u201d As has happened with much nautical jargon, the phrase eventually came ashore. By and large, landlubbers welcomed it, first in the sense "in many directions" or "in all ways," and ultimately with its present meaning of "in general."
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