Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[jays]

Does "years and years" in the following sentence mean " several years"? And, in this case, can I replace "years and years" with "year and year"?
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Last year, more than 37 million prescriptions were written for medications like Fosamax to fight or prevent osteoporosis. Many people stay on them for years and years but for weeks now, Dr. Richard Besser has beenlooking into reports that in some women and other people over time the drugs weaken certain bones and he is here now with his results.

[pugachevV]

Years and Years, means many years and, no; you can't replace it with year and year.
You could replace it with, year after year, however.