Sentence:  Their own easier , slower tempo is especially dear to Southerners ; and I have heard <WSD>many</WSD> say that they are content to earn a half or a third as much as they could up North because they so much prefer the quieter habits of their home town . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by `as' or `too' or `so' or `that'; amounting to a large but indefinite number