From the New York Times public editor’s journal, on how to refer to Chelsea (formerly Bradley) Manning:
Yipes. Perhaps only the copyeditors themselves, not those who supervise them, are expected to know that one uses fewer words, not less.
[The Times Manual of Style and Usage recommends copy editor; Garner’s Modern American Usage recommends copyeditor.]
Thursday, August 22, 2013
Use less words
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The revered rising-star economist Scott Sumner writes
... monetary shocks cause aggregate nominal income to fall. That leads to less hours worked, and thus less employment.
Fewer hours worked, because hours are countable. Less employment, because it's a smaller mass. That's how I was taught.
I learned this stuff in elementary school I think. It's not that hard. You'd think bloggers with names people recognize would, I don't know, have somebody check their work?
... and I find myself thinking about other things, like how easy it would be to get it mostly right, instead of concentrating on the subject that I study. (And I find myself here instead of there.)
No, not that hard. The distinction is worth preserving.
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