this post was submitted on 19 Jun 2026
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me_irl

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[–] davetortoise@reddthat.com 84 points 4 days ago (3 children)
[–] tigeruppercut@lemmy.zip 25 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Like so many grammar "rules", this one was caused by one fussy dude who got his panties in a twist about an aspect of language:

This isn't an example of how modern English is going to the dogs. Less has been used this way for well over a thousand years—nearly as long as there's been a written English language. But for more than 200 years almost every usage writer and English teacher has declared such use to be wrong. The received rule seems to have originated with the critic Robert Baker, who expressed it not as a law but as a matter of personal preference. Somewhere along the way—it's not clear how—his preference was generalized and elevated to an absolute, inviolable rule.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/fewer-vs-less

[–] Taleya@aussie.zone 17 points 4 days ago (3 children)

It's a semi obscure "rule" of zero consequence that carries a false sense of knowledgeable power. Of course fucking pedants love it

[–] Zorque@lemmy.world 19 points 4 days ago (2 children)
[–] deacon@lemmy.world 7 points 4 days ago

I wonder how well this fantastic joke would do outside of Lemmy.

[–] fartographer@lemmy.world 3 points 4 days ago

Call the FCC, Max Headroom hacked his way onto Lemmy!

[–] Septimaeus@infosec.pub 11 points 4 days ago (2 children)

This image won’t load for me. I just want to know if it’s Stannis Baratheon. Can someone tell me?