Date: Mon, 3 Jun 2002 20:42:11 -0700 (PDT) From: Annelise Anderson <andrsn@andrsn.stanford.edu> To: Giorgos Keramidas <keramida@ceid.upatras.gr> Cc: Ross Lippert <ripper@eskimo.com>, ac14806t@st.nagaoka-ct.ac.jp, doc@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: [Question] A `-h' flag for ls(1) in relnotes (RELENG_4) Message-ID: <Pine.BSF.4.10.10206032036310.85048-100000@andrsn.stanford.edu> In-Reply-To: <20020601184640.GB414@hades.hell.gr>
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On Sat, 1 Jun 2002, Giorgos Keramidas wrote: > On 2002-06-01 09:36 -0700, Ross Lippert wrote: > > >My intuition says that there are two ways to write this: > > > three or less > > > less than four > > Hey if someone can show me documentation that supports this usage, > > then I'll stop worrying about it, but for until that happens, I'll > > think that fewer is what you should apply to whole numbers and > > less only applies to continuous. > > > > three or fewer > > > > fewer than four > > I'll have to dig some English grammar books that have been rusting in > bookshelves for ages. See, this is why I love this list... it makes > things like these books, that keep aging slowly in my house, to be > useful again! > > Seriously now, I don't know. I'll have to check out a grammar/syntax > book to make sure what the 'yours truly & pedantically anal-retentive' > way of writing this is ;) > "fewer" refers to number, "less" to quantity. fewer than four; less than a month until the next full moon. Hamburger costs less than steak, but.... The sign above the checkstand in a supermarket that says "10 items or less" should say "10 items or fewer". Such are the ways commerce corrupts language, as in "Winston tastes good like a cigarette should." There are some "close" calls where either fewer or less could be used. The main error is to use "less" when "fewer" is correct. There are a whole bunch of errors of this type in FreeBSD docs. I have always ignored them. Annelise -- Annelise Anderson Author of: FreeBSD: An Open-Source Operating System for Your PC Available from: BSDmall.com and amazon.com Book Website: http://www.bittreepress.com/FreeBSD/introbook/ To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-doc" in the body of the message
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