"There is one common grammatically incorrect mistake that drives me crazy! It is not the mixing up of “who” and “whom”. It is not the use of the word “irregardless”. It is not even the saying of “ain’t”. It’s the “less/fewer” blunder that makes me want to scream.
“Fewer” is used to describe things you can count (like chickens). “Less” is used to describe intangible things you can’t count (like time). The problem is that lots of people use the word “less” for both kinds of things.
There are at least three commercials (one is for a bladder medicine) that loudly and clearly and incorrectly use the word “less”. “You’ll have “less” bathroom problems with Urine-trouble”. Don’t they have copy editors, or do they just think “fewer” will sound awkward to most people so the heck with what is correct?
I once went to a teachers’ inservice where some guy came up from Boston and gave a talk about discipline. For two hours he said things like “less students respond to this kind of situation “ and “if we do this, less teachers will be needed to observe the students”. He must have used the word “less” in the wrong way a hundred times. I wanted to stand up and yell,”If you would make FEWER grammatical mistakes, your lecture would be LESS painful to hear...”
My number grammar gremlin is also the "less/fewer" error, and it pains me to no end to see it exposed at every express lane in America (I suppose). I even complained eye-to-eye, once upon a time, with the multimillionaire owner of a major Southeastern grocery chain. His response: rapid blinking. So, I presume we're doomed to forever see as we pay for our Beanie Weenies: "Ten items or less."
5 comments:
you've straightened me out on the less/fewer conundrum.
can you give me an easy fix for who and whom? sometimes it takes me forever to figure out the objective and subjective cases.
I'll give it a try.
"Who" is always the subject of something, as in "Who are you?" "Who is that masked man?" "We need men who can swim like you." (or bike!) ["who" is the subject of "can swim."]
"Whom" is always the object of something, either a predicate or a preposition most of the time. Questions turned into statments are
always easier to figure out: You wish to speak to whom. ["Whom" is the object of the preposition "to")
Thus becomes, "To whom do you wish to speak?" That's the short course. Try my website for the fullest treatment: http://www.southwest.cc.nc.us/bobh/agreepkg.htm
You can pop back one level and get to all the grammar stuff.
Hey, did you complain to the owner of Publix? Their checkout signs say "Ten items or fewer".
This is why I shop there. Good work! ;)
Nope. It was another chain. Goon on Publix; I'll give 'em some business next time I see one.
Obviously, I meant "Good" instead of "Goon" in the comment above.
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