False alarm? "majority"

1

LT flags “majority” in this:
To this end, we need to consider how the majority is most likely to perceive a considered word within the context.

LT suggests “most” and “usually”. You can easily add an exception for the case when it is preceded by “the|a”. However, I wonder how “most” or “usually” can replace “majority” in any situation.

2 
<rule id="MAJORITY" name="majority (most, usually) when not voting">    
            <pattern>
                <!-- <token min="0">the</token> -->
                <token>majority</token>
            </pattern>
            <message>Majority in the sense of "more than half" is used with countable nouns only (esp. when voting); for uncountable nouns, use <suggestion>most</suggestion> or <suggestion>usually</suggestion>.</message>
            <example correction="Most|Usually"><marker>Majority</marker> of the world is covered with water.</example>
            <example><marker>Most</marker> of the world is covered with water.</example>
        </rule>
3

I believe have a single word as the whole pattern would likely cause many false alarms. Can you add an exception for the case when it is preceded by “the|a”?

4

You mean like this?

<rule id="MAJORITY" name="majority (most, usually) when not voting">    
            <pattern>
                
                <token>majority<exception scope="previous" regexp="yes" inflected="yes">a|the</exception></token>
            </pattern>
            <message>Majority in the sense of "more than half" is used with countable nouns only (esp. when voting); for uncountable nouns, use <suggestion>most</suggestion> or <suggestion>usually</suggestion>.</message>
            <example correction="Most|Usually"><marker>Majority</marker> of the world is covered with water.</example>
            <example><marker>Most</marker> of the world is covered with water.</example>
        </rule>
5

Please test the rule at
http://community.languagetool.org/ruleEditor2/

Meanwhile I suggest suspending this rule, as it’s creating too many false alarms.

6

This rule is in the “Plain English” category, which is already off by default. You can also try your sentence at languagetool.org, where it won’t create an error.

7

dnaber [via LanguageTool User Forum] wrote thus at 02:46 PM 07-10-15:

This rule is in the “Plain English” category, which is already off
by default. You can also try your sentence at languagetool.org,
where it won’t create an error.

I’ve turned it off, under “Plain English”. (Perhaps it should be
categorised elsewhere, since it’s more an error than un-plain English.)

8

If you’re turned it off and the rule is still active this might be the same issue as the one you reported the other day with long sentences. Are you using LT 3.1 or a nightly snapshot?

9

dnaber [via LanguageTool User Forum] wrote thus at 03:20 PM 07-10-15:

If you’re turned it off and the rule is still active this might be
the same issue as the one you reported the other day with long
sentences. Are you using LT 3.1 or a nightly snapshot?

Sorry, I meant I’ve turned it off after I realised it’s not working
for me. It’s okay for me now. (I’ve not downloaded the nightly snapshot.)