One Less Candidate

Comments

1. stomv says

   April 13, 2006 at 6:35 am

   As my ninth grade English teacher would remind me,

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   One fewer candidate.

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   If you can count ’em, use more or fewer.
   If you can’t count ’em, use more or less.

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   Just a pet peeve of mine.  Carry on.

   • michael-forbes-wilcox says

     April 13, 2006 at 9:52 am

     That’s a nice rule, and I’ve heard it many times, but it doesn’t stand up to scrutiny in the real world.

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     Here’s an alternative rule: ‘use “less” before singular nouns, and use “fewer” before plural nouns.’ If you buy that, I’m right, but I used the word I did because it felt right to me, not because of any rule.

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     In truth, rules such as these seldom hold up in common usage. Our language is a wonderful, evolving creation. I intentionally violate a rule I was taught in ninth grade: “…someone…they…” instead of the horrendous “s/he” construction — I could go on, but you get the idea, and anyway this blog is about politics. Still, language is important, and I would say flexibility and experimentation, bottom-up formation and freedom to do as one sees fit are all hallmarks of a progressive view of life. Consistent with clear communication, of course.