'In a trice.'

We have spoken of
several and many things
for hundreds of years -
but, suddenly, almost in a trice
they have been replaced by
multiple, while most
has been replaced by
the majority of.
Language keeps moving
from pillar to post.
_____

Multiple- sometimes a hyphenated prefix
was maybe popularised, aggrandised
by the advent of the multi-choice questionnaire
if not the pseudo-scientific term
multiple-personality disorder.