more than you can shake a stick at
Too many present
More than you can shake a stick at means a large, uncountable quantity—too many to enumerate or deal with individually.
The expression is folksy and slightly humorous: There are restaurants in this town more than you can shake a stick at.
Why shaking a stick would be relevant is unclear, but the idiom has been around since at least the early 1800s.
- a lotLarge quantity or frequency
- manyA large quantity
- surplusAmount exceeding requirement
- scadsInformal term for plenty
- abundanceAmple supply, overflowing
a whole lot · a great many · plethora · horn of plenty · myriad · multitude · plenty · more than enough · bounty · tons · a ton of · passel · zillions · truckloads · profusion · boatloads · umpteen · cornucopia