[Grammar] A lot of years/Many years

[Snappy]

According to ENGLISH GRAMMAR IN USE
Fifth Edition
Raymond Murphy

We’ve lived here for many years. (not usually a lot of years)

"A lot of years" is not used in the above sentence.
Is it possible to use "a lot of years" if the period is not consecutive?
"Hawaii is the best resort. It is one of our vacation destinations for a lot of years." Does this make sense?

 

[tedmc]

People will understand what you mean but that is unheard of.

 

[Rover_KE]

It's certainly possible, though admittedly not a common collocation.

• Teaming up with these guys I feel like we can compete for a lot of years to come.
  (washingtonpost.com)
• We've gone through a lot of years where we were told what government cannot do.
  (washingtonpost.com)
• Guillen's a great hitter and he's had success in the league for a lot of years.
  (kansas.com)
• And it was very hard for a lot of years, because I wasn't conventional looking.
  (nytimes.com)

(frazeit.com)

I'd prefer "Hawaii is the best resort. It has been one of our vacation destinations for a lot of years."​

 

[Snappy]

It's certainly possible, though admittedly not a common collocation.

(frazeit.com)

I'd prefer "Hawaii is the best resort. It has been one of our vacation destinations for a lot of years."​

Thanks.
I found this on the Internet: We have rented a vacation home at many different destinations for a lot of years.

Does it imply that they have rented a vacation home at many different destinations for many years, but not consecutively. They may have rented a vacation home at one destination for several years and another vacation home at a different destination for a couple of years or so, and so on?

 

[emsr2d2]

Thanks.
I found this on the Internet: We have rented a vacation home at many different destinations for a lot of years.

Does it imply that they have rented a vacation home at many different destinations for many years, but not consecutively. They may have rented a vacation home at one destination for several years and another vacation home at a different destination for a couple of years or so, and so on?

There is no way of knowing. They could have been to 20 different destinations over 20 consecutive years, and rented a vacation home at each one. They might have gone on vacation twelve times in fifteen years, to nine different destinations. All we know is that they've rented several different vacation homes over this unspecified period of time.

 

[probus]

I think "a lot of years" is used more in American English than in British. It is used either jocularly or when the speaker wants to project a homespun or folksy image. The years would usually but not necessarily be consecutive.

 

[5jj]

People will understand what you mean but that is unheard of.

What exactly do you think is unheard of?

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

It's certainly possible, though admittedly not a common collocation.

(frazeit.com)

I'd prefer "Hawaii is the best resort. It has been one of our vacation destinations for a lot of years."​

The past perfect is more grammatical than Murphy's example, but it doesn't make "for a lot of years" sound better.

When "for many years" doesn't ring right, I'd say "for a long time" or "for years."

 

[tedmc]

What exactly do you think is unheard of?

A lot of years.

 

[GoesStation]

Note that Hawaii is not a resort. Many resorts are located there, along with many farms, offices, and other places.

 

[5jj]

A lot of years.

As we have seen in later posts, It is far from unheard of.

 

[tedmc]

As we have seen in later posts, It is far from unheard of.

It doesn't make much difference as its use is not recommended anyway.

https://www.usingenglish.com/forum/threads/49152-for-lots-of-years

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

As we have seen in later posts, It is far from unheard of.

I'm not taking the question (or Ted) literally. Yes, of course it's possible. Does it work well in that context? I agree with Murphy that it's not as natural as other ways to say it.

 

[probus]

At the risk of belabouring the obvious, "a lot of years" and "lots of years" are quite different, Tedmc. The former is not uncommonly used in America, while the latter, as BobK said, sounds rather infantile.