Okay, I wish the guy who makes the signs at the supermarket checkouts would get this right. You know who I mean. He's the one who writes, "Ten Items or Less." How did this guy get such an important job?
Let's set the record straight. Use "fewer" when referring to anything that can be counted -- people, gorillas, lollipops, oranges, hair brushes, etc. "There are fewer people in class today."
Use "less" when it's a matter of degree and is impossible to count. You can't count how much milk is in the bottle, but you can count bottles of milk.
Therefore, there is less milk in the bottle, but there are fewer bottles.
Hopefully, you people will now start making "fewer" mistakes, you will be "less" inclined to annihilate the language, and the supermarket sign guy will repaint all those signs to read, "Ten Items or Fewer."
Hey, I can dream. . .can't I?
About Me
- Random Musings
- Obviously, the picture is not of me. It's our pride and joy, Daisy. She's a lot better looking than I am, so I figured you'd want to look at her instead. I'll write the posts, however. She can't. She doesn't have opposable thumbs. Currently, I teach high school English, and, since I'm trying to improve the use of language in 16-year-olds, I thought I'd branch out and give some pointers to adults, too. Hope you're not offended. It's just my way of improving the world -- one day at a time. Oh, by the way, I'm always available for freelance writing/editing jobs -- and I'm pretty inexpensive, so. . .
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