many a traveler

Question

I discovered this sentence:

Many a traveler has found the whole pub experience rather bewildering.

The meaning is clear to me. But the phrase "Many a traveler" seems to be a bit odd to me. Can you explain it to me?

Answer 1

Many a traveler simply means many travelers. The former one is a poetic or literary way of writing it.

You may say this sentence in two ways....

Many a time it happens that I cannot see the things that are nearer to me

OR

Many times it happens that I cannot see....

Note that that typical use of singular traveler will take a singular verb has. If you change it to a normal construction, it'll take a plural verb.

Many a traveler has found the whole pub experience rather bewildering = Many travelers have found the whole pub experience rather bewildering.