Do you remember the saying: 'First in; last out." when referring to memory? Apparently I remember all the grammar rules I learned (or had drummed into me om grade school)). Today I heard an ad for plaque removal on teeth where someone said 'less germs' and my ears curled. Shouldn't it have been 'fewer germs'? I turned to the Internet which offered up a ready answer:
"Less and fewer are easy to mix up. They mean the same thing—the opposite of more—but you use them in different circumstances (1). The basic rule is that you use less with mass nouns and fewer with count nouns" Yeah, my ear worked properly for me though I had forgotten the rule."
"Grammar girl goes on to define mass and count: "A count noun is just something you can count. I'm looking at my desk and I see books, pens, and M&M's. I can count all those things, so they are count nouns and the right word to use is fewer. I should eat fewer M&M's. Mass nouns are just things that you can't count individually. Again, on my desk I see tape and clutter. These things can't be counted individually, so the right word to use is less. If I had less clutter, my desk would be cleaner."
Whether an ad tonight was done by the same people or it is just coincidence, there was a car commercial on. Among other objects mentioned, the person describing the car went on about..."and less doors." Has the beginning of a new acceptable misuse of the English language finally been admitted to the dictionary? After all, when people kept saying, "I'm nauseous"' when they meant nauseated. Nauseous is now accepted as meaning one feels like barfing instead of one who causes to feel like barfing. Atta way to go! When someone says who is this, I may start saying "it's me" instead of the proper, "it's I' because people look at me with a funny expression when I speak correctly.
"Less and fewer are easy to mix up. They mean the same thing—the opposite of more—but you use them in different circumstances (1). The basic rule is that you use less with mass nouns and fewer with count nouns" Yeah, my ear worked properly for me though I had forgotten the rule."
"Grammar girl goes on to define mass and count: "A count noun is just something you can count. I'm looking at my desk and I see books, pens, and M&M's. I can count all those things, so they are count nouns and the right word to use is fewer. I should eat fewer M&M's. Mass nouns are just things that you can't count individually. Again, on my desk I see tape and clutter. These things can't be counted individually, so the right word to use is less. If I had less clutter, my desk would be cleaner."
Whether an ad tonight was done by the same people or it is just coincidence, there was a car commercial on. Among other objects mentioned, the person describing the car went on about..."and less doors." Has the beginning of a new acceptable misuse of the English language finally been admitted to the dictionary? After all, when people kept saying, "I'm nauseous"' when they meant nauseated. Nauseous is now accepted as meaning one feels like barfing instead of one who causes to feel like barfing. Atta way to go! When someone says who is this, I may start saying "it's me" instead of the proper, "it's I' because people look at me with a funny expression when I speak correctly.
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