Nerd Talk

The words "fewer" and "less" are often used incorrectly and, unfortunately, most people have no idea what the difference is between them.  I try really hard not to arrogantly correct people who use these words incorrectly, but I can't help myself.  It's actually really simple - fewer you can count and less you can not.  You have fewer items in your cart than you thought (obviously you can count the items in your cart).  You have less dust in your house than you had last week (obviously you can't count dust).  Another easy way to remember fewer and less is to remember that you shouldn't be able to make "less" plural.  You wouldn't have less dusts on your desk but you do have fewer items.

Really, the only reason I bring up this topic is because the popular "15 items or less" signs really bother me.     How are we getting away with being so grammatically incorrect?  Didn't we learn this in 5th grade?

Thanks for letting me rant :).