Disambiguation of 大抵


I am having problems with when to understand 大抵 as:

a)
事柄のあらまし。だいたいのようす。また、全体のうちの大部分。おおよそ。おおかた。([https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/word/大抵/#jn-133918](https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/word/%E5%A4%A7%E6%8A%B5/#jn-133918))
(or as defined in Apple's dictionary) 全体の中の大部分のもの。ほとんどのもの。大体。

b)
ほとんどすべてに及ぶさま。たいがい。[https://kotobank.jp/word/大抵-557812](https://kotobank.jp/word/%E5%A4%A7%E6%8A%B5-557812)

While I am aware of the difference between noun and adverb I saw the sentence:

1) **「大抵は魔法使いの エキスパートで―…」**

translated as: "In general they are experts in using magic"

However I initially understood it as: "Most of them are experts in using
magic" (especially sticking to the definition referred to in the Mac-
dictionary)

I first came across this word in:

2) **「大丈夫だって。大抵の奴はわからんよ。」**

In that case the meaning was pretty clear to me and according to its meaning
here I thought in **「大抵は…」** its meaning is the same as in 2).

Context: (Season 1 Episode 2 of このすば) The "race" of Crimson-Demons is
explained and general characteristics of them are listed and the this sentence
is some kind of "conclusion" to it.




> However I initially understood it as: "Most of them are experts in using
> magic"

I don't think you are wrong. Actually you got the gist except the actual
sentence technically doesn't say so. 大抵 is basically a quantifier today whose
core meaning is " **most times/cases** (of)" instead of "most part" or "most
people". But when you catch any random guy and ask them if they are a magic
expert, and if "most times" the answer is "yes", then logically "most of them"
is so.

I don't know to what degree the translation is authoritative, but if the
translator chose the wording "in general", s/he probably took the
"typical(ly)" sense of 大抵; this is also a natural derivation from the "most
cases" sense, thus both of you seem equally correct. After all, the described
situation (and the truth condition) wouldn't change much either.




> However I initially understood it as: "Most of them are experts in using
> magic"

I don't think you are wrong. Actually you got the gist except the actual
sentence technically doesn't say so. 大抵 is basically a quantifier today whose
core meaning is " **most times/cases** (of)" instead of "most part" or "most
people". But when you catch any random guy and ask them if they are a magic
expert, and if "most times" the answer is "yes", then logically "most of them"
is so.

I don't know to what degree the translation is authoritative, but if the
translator chose the wording "in general", s/he probably took the
"typical(ly)" sense of 大抵; this is also a natural derivation from the "most
cases" sense, thus both of you seem equally correct. After all, the described
situation (and the truth condition) wouldn't change much either.

