OT: Less vs. fewer

[Get a Job]

I get bugged out by this common screw up that I seem to see more and more these days, using "worse" and "worst" incorrectly. I have no memory of hearing people do this a decade ago, but hear and see it written all the time these days.

Worst is THE worst, it cant get any 'more bad'
Worse is just less good than it was or than what you're comparing to

"Duke fans are the worst!"
"Their pizza has gotten worse over the years"

That reminds me of "acrossed," which is not a word, in place of "across."

 

[Rocktheworld]

I get bugged out by this common screw up that I seem to see more and more these days, using "worse" and "worst" incorrectly. I have no memory of hearing people do this a decade ago, but hear and see it written all the time these days.

Worst is THE worst, it cant get any 'more bad'
Worse is just less good than it was or than what you're comparing to

"Duke fans are the worst!"
"Their pizza has gotten worse over the years"

Worst is superlative
Worse is not

 

[Sphinx]

My bugaboos are "different than" and "between you and I" (or any use of "I" as an object.) Both incorrect usages are today nearly universal, even among professional writers and speakers.

As to "different than," does a man differ than a woman? No, a man differs from a woman. So please don't say a man is different than a woman. It is entirely meaningless and an affront to the ear. (True, the British say a man is different to a woman, but the British have been in decline for some years now.)

As to "between you and I," ask yourself if you would say, "between you, I and the fencepost?" Probably not. Worse is an expression such as, "It was a private disagreement, just between she and I." This sounds so proper and educated as compared to "It was a private disagreement, just between her and me." The sad fact is that the proper use of the objective is so rare these days that it sounds incorrect. You run the risk of being thought a rube by using correct grammar. Sigh.

And don't get me started on the double "is." The fact is is that ..."

 

[Husky25]

I get bugged out by this common screw up that I seem to see more and more these days, using "worse" and "worst" incorrectly. I have no memory of hearing people do this a decade ago, but hear and see it written all the time these days.

Worst is THE worst, it cant get any 'more bad'
Worse is just less good than it was or than what you're comparing to

"Duke fans are the worst!"
"Their pizza has gotten worse over the years"

I couldn't care less, because if I could care less, I would. However, there are some times where I could care less, but I won't because I have no interest in expending the energy to care less.

 

[Fairfield_1st]

All of the messages above are exactly why I was a math/stats major.

 

[Conndog]

This reminds me of a joke- guy is going to Boston for 1st time, his friend says while there to get scrod when going out to dinner, explains it’s the local fish specialty. So, dinner time comes and the guy gets into a cab, and he asks the driver “do you know where I can get scrod around here?
The cabbie replies “you know, I must have been asked that question a thousand times, but never before in the pluperfect subjunctive.”

 

[ctchamps]

All I know is one is less than four.

 

[RichZ]

I know I will get a lot of hate for this, but, given the extent to which this mistake is made on the 'Yard, I felt the need to educate the masses.

"Less" is used when the subject has a magnitude, as in "less scoring". "Fewer" is required when the subject has a quantity, like "fewer three point baskets".

Feel free to ignore me, but it needed to be said.

I think what bothers me the most is that when I try to explain it to people, they just point out all the times the rule is ignored on signs, in public documents, in the media, etc.
Pretty sure it was in the 3rd grade when we learned "Count fewer, measure less."
Five gallons or less, and Five or fewer gallons are both correct. In the first case, you're modifying an amount -five gallons. In the 2nd, you're modifying the number 5.
It doesn't help that the word more is the opposite of both less and fewer.

Now don't get me started on between and among.

 

[intlzncster]

I had a teacher who would mark your paper if you ever used "that." He said it was a useless word, very is also useless.

That idiot would have cancelled the Declaration of Independence. Seventeen 'that's in there.

The Declaration of Independence: Full text

 

[RichZ]

It's like literally which now means sometimes figuratively.

Perfectly acceptable in the official language of morons.

 

[Mazhude]

A very stupid move.

That is a very stupid move.

 

[Steelerone]

Hey - not everyone can speak good.

 

[uconngb]

Not sure what you're getting at.

That’s what I was afraid of.

 

[uconngb]

It's like literally which now means sometimes figuratively.

Today’s youth literally never use the word literally correctly.

 

[David 76]

If we had fewer threads like this, the boneyard would be less boring

 

[Purple Stein]

I had a teacher that said you should never use "is" or some form of it because it's a waste of space and to write a real sentence. For example if you want to talk about Liz who is a brunette who is eating an apple you would write:

Auburn-haired Liz eats an apple while she enjoys the baseball game.

This is also stupid. “To be” verbs make for functional communication.

 

[mussels]

That’s what I was afraid of.

Amusing, but its time to move on.

 

[auror]

 

[Devland]

I had a teacher who would mark your paper if you ever used "that." He said it was a useless word, very is also useless.

I think he was spurned by Marlo Thomas.

 

[boba]

I think he was spurned by Marlo Thomas.

Do I get to use:
"OK Boomer"
as a response to this particular post? (Note the lack of the "adjective" Girl!)

 

[Chin Diesel]

So, for context, did UConn have more or greater turnovers last by going from 22 turnovers against IU to 26 TO's against St. Pete's?

 

[Conndog]

They had more turnovers, or a greater amount of turnovers, if you want.