Hurrah, Winsor! It had to be said. If asked, I advise people to use
this test: if you can count them, it is fewer or more. If you can't,
it's less or more.
Chris
On 7 Sep 2006, at 15:53, Winsor Crosby wrote:
> On the off chance that I will save one person from mortal
> embarrassment, "Less" is not a substitute for "fewer", except
> apparently in all the mass media in the US which have confused 6th
> grade level usage with 6th grade usage. Less is used for amorphous
> stuff like soup in my bowl, sauce on the dessert or rice in the
> bowl. "Fewer" is used for discrete things like cars on the freeway,
> people who like eggplant, eggs in the omelette, grains of rice in a
> cup of brown rice.
>
> Sorry. Sometimes I can't stand it.
>
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