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StarDoor on 31 October 2017
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Nem said:
StarDoor said:

No native English speaker would ever use the word in that sense when dealing with definite proportions. It's amusing how you chose the C (less common) definition without clear values ("the majority of the time") when I specifically qouted the A (more common) definiton with clear vlaues ("a two-thirds majority").

Even more amusing is your belief that you know the language better than native speakers. That is some ego you have.

I am not very inclined to continue conversation with you. It is your problem that you decided to take it personally.

English words are not yours alone. Many of the words are shared by multiple languages and have similar meanings. Try learning more languages and you'll see.

But, read below if you want to learn.

RolStoppable said:

Definition c reads like a comparison between only two items, so the majority would be above 50% by default.

I don't know how you reading that but i will explain the logic behind the meaning. But i will explain below.

Dulfite said:

This either isn't true, or is yet another illogical part of the english language. The Republicans have a majority in the Senate and House. You don't hear anyone saying it's an absolute majority.

Majority = more than 50%. If you have less than 50%, but still more than others, then it is a system of plurality and you simply have the most. Much like places like Germany or, occassionally, the UK have in their political systems.

Indeed, this may be an american issue because you only have 2 parties. So, whoever is up is therefore defaulted to the majority. Theres no need for any more distinctions.

This meaning to the majority word comes from comparing the groups, let's say, so this doesn't get politic.

Take group A 40%

        group B  30%

        group C 20%

       group D  10%

By your common definition there is no majority. But you still need a way to say wich sample is bigger. The word majority took that meaning aswell as we saw in alinea c.

How is it a majority when it's less than 50%?

The way it is called a majority it's because it's a majority when comparing the different samples (groups in our case).

Sample A wich is 40% when compared between them Is 66% compared to sample C 33% (wich was 20%).

Sample A compared to sample D is 80% to 20%.

This group is the majority compared to every other group and is thus an accepted used of the word. It's a relative majority.

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/relative-majority

If you want to say that they are the majority when looking at the universe the term for it is absolute majority.

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/absolute-majority?s=t

 

So, either use of the word Majority is correct or insuficient in both cases. So, the word took both meanings.

I'm not sure why you're accusing me of taking it personally when you were the one who took more offense than I could have possibly imagined from the mere statement of your home country. I think it's reasonable to assume that native speakers have a better grasp on their own language than foreigners. You're the one who decided to start slinging insults by saying that I "lack education".

Moving on from that, in the situation that you are describing, we would say that group A is a plurality, as Dulfite and I have both already said. 

The terms "absolute majority" and "relative majority" are almost never used in the United States because there are more concise alternatives, but people would still have understood your meaning had you just used "relative majority" in the first place. If you merely say that something is a "majority," everyone will assume that you're talking about an absolute majority, because that is how the word is used.

"Relative majority" is interchangeable with "plurality".
"Absolute majority" is interchangeable with "majority".
"Relative majority" is NOT interchangeable with "majority".