We can take a stand and end it now! Having spent some time learning French, I know how pedantic other languages can be on these sorts of issues. We English speakers are less concerned with language tradition, and I am not usually too bothered. However, replacing fewer with less I just can't abide! Evan. On Thu Nov 5 10:43 , 'Kathy Bowman' <Kathy.Bowman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> sent: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >People in the 1810s probably made mistakes too. >:) > > > >From: austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx >[mailto:austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Daniel >Frankham >Sent: Thursday, 5 November 2009 10:01 AM >To: >austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx >Subject: atw: Re: 'that' vs >'who' > > > >"Less" instead of "fewer" used to get my goat as an >example of the degrading of the language, until IÂ saw it in a novel from >the 1810s. >Â >Actually, it still annoys, but I feel less able to tell >people it's wrong. >Â >-- >Daniel Frankham > > > > > > From: austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > [mailto:austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Terry > Dowling >Sent: Wednesday, 4 November 2009 2:35 PM >To: > austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx >Subject: atw: Re: 'that' vs > 'who' > > > > > Add it onto the list > for our evolving language, along with: > Â > Enormity (to denote > size or complexity â?? showing my age, but I have a dictionary at home where > the > only meaning is great wickedness. Apparently, weâ??re going full circle as > centuries ago it used to mean size â?? so Iâ??m younger than > that!!) > Less (e.g. less > people, instead of fewer) > Lay, where lie > shouldâ??ve been used (e.g. I was laying on the > beachâ?¦) > R16;Should ofR17; instead > of shouldâ??ve or should have > Compliment/complementR30; > And a common error in > docs Iâ??m currently fixing is principle/principal, where both meanings are > used > and pretty much each time itâ??s wrong. > Â > If it is a > generational thing, Iâ??d say itâ??s rooted in the diminution of > reading. > Â > Cheers, > Terry > > Â ************************************************** To view the austechwriter archives, go to www.freelists.org/archives/austechwriter To unsubscribe, send a message to austechwriter-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with "unsubscribe" in the Subject field (without quotes). To manage your subscription (e.g., set and unset DIGEST and VACATION modes) go to www.freelists.org/list/austechwriter To contact the list administrator, send a message to austechwriter-admins@xxxxxxxxxxxxx **************************************************