A Campaign for the Preservation of Fewer OK, I get that language changes. Woody Allen and others have, in my memory, changed nauseous from meaning disgusting and stomach-turning to feeling sick to ones stomach. Gift is now a verb. Proactive seems like a useful term to me, among other neologisms. I also know, and dont spend any time regretting, that as we acquire new words and usages, old ones are dropped and shelved. Not so long ago, for example, you couldnt contact anyone or anything. You had to make contact, which is a usage we only resort to now when describing a process more elaborate and fraught than usual. But fewer is a word we ought to preserve, because its a useful semantic distinction: Fewer denotes things that can be counted. Less, the present-day catch-all, is for what cannot be individuated: fewer water drops, less water. My wife just read me her horoscope in a local newspaper feature, haikuhoroscopes: Aries: I dont often say This, but your life could use less Falling pianos Had Jonathan Ball, the writer, used fewer instead of less the result would have been both more precise and alliteratively pleasing. So next time you reach for the less, ask yourself can it be counted? If so, go with fewer. Youll sound smarter and remind others that there is a better way to say it. End Crabby Old Guy transmission.
Posted on: Fri, 21 Mar 2014 19:31:23 +0000
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