there is a lot to be said for ～「良いところがたくさんある」

自分の学習ノートには前回取り上げた kudos に続いて there is a lot to be said for ～ という表現がメモしてあったので、ついでに短く書いてみたい。for に続く事物に、長所や利点といった”良いこと”がたくさんある、という意味である。

次の実例はBBCの記事にあったもので、ここでは a lot of の代わりに much に使われている。

- There are plenty of reasons to wonder whether the political parties are increasingly out-of-step with the voters.
The European referendum is only the latest example.
There is much to be said for maintaining your principles even when they are not popular.
So, the Liberal Democrats say they will campaign at the next general election for the UK to be in the EU.
("Are political parties out-of-step with UK voters?" BBC August 11, 2016)

much というなら little に変えると逆の意味を表すことができるはずだ。ということで、そちらの実例である。

- Many Americans have come to believe that democracy — majority rule — is the be-all, end-all of our Constitution. But that has never been the case, and there is little to be said for the “winner-takes-all” or “We won, you lost” philosophy that has dominated our politics during the past two presidencies.
("Democracy at risk? Folks, that's a bunch of malarkey" The Hill November 17, 2020)

英語圏の辞書から引用しよう。a lot の部分を something に入れ替えた言い方もあるようだ。

- If you say there is a lot to be said for something, you mean you think it has a lot of good qualities or aspects.
There's a lot to be said for being based in the country.
(COBUILD Advanced English Dictionary)

- there’s something/a lot/not much etc to be said for something
used for saying that there are some/many/few etc advantages in doing something
There’s something to be said for his approach to the problem.
(Macmillan Dictionary)

- used with words such as something, a lot, much, etc., to indicate that something has advantages which deserve to be considered when someone is thinking about what to do
There is something to be said for small weddings.
There's a lot to be said for traveling abroad to learn a language.
(Merriam-Webster.com)


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