However, I cannot extend the same benevolence to the Associated Press. While reading this:
I found this:
Oh dear me, Mark Jewell! Dear me again, AP editorial staff! You can spell bacteriophage but you can't follow your own rules?
fewer, less
In general, use fewer for individual items, less for bulk or quantity.
2 comments:
yeah, but, if you think of antibiotics like a fluid, rather than like separate little microscopic bodies, then "less" would make sense. like, we need less serum, not fewer.
not that I have any experience with such things.
A good point. In cases like this, I sometimes do a quick pulse-check, as it were, and see how others deal with the issue. On this one, a Google search showed organizations such as the NYT and BBC prefer "fewer," while "less" is used, um, less often and by fewer reputable publications.
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