(no subject)

[lilysea]

We met a small child carrying "Less Invasions, More Equations!" (my brain yelled, "Fewer!" and I said, "Nice sign," because people who pedantically correct the protest signs of six-year-olds are not the kind of change I want to see in the world) - sovay.

Context is Boston March for Science.

Comments

[conuly]

Well, I can out-pedant anybody.

Less vs. Fewer was literally invented by some dude named Robert Baker in 1770, and if you've never heard of him, that's because this is about his only claim to fame.

http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/myl/languagelog/archives/003775.html

It's not a real rule. It's a made up zombie rule (technical term) and, as such, should not be cast aside lightly but should be thrown with great force.

[jesse_the_k]

Exxxxxcellent.

[jamoche]

Way I see it, there's only a "less than" sign, not a "fewer than", and in math it works for both integers and real numbers :)