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Less vs. fewer

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by mediaguy, Jan 10, 2011.

  1. mediaguy

    mediaguy Well-Known Member

    So twice during national title game, ESPN graphic has pointed out how many "TD drives of 2 minutes or fewer" a team has this season. That should be "less" and not "fewer," right? With time, we're not counting a number of minutes. Surprised to see that ...
     
    mediaguy, Jan 10, 2011
    #1
  2. MileHigh

    MileHigh Moderator Staff Member

    It's TV, where during blizzards, they can't even get "canceled" spelled right.
     
    MileHigh, Jan 10, 2011
    #2
  3. mediaguy

    mediaguy Well-Known Member

    That one always surprises me to see wrong -- with the verbs ending in L, if first syllable is stressed, don't double the L in past tense, if second syllable is stressed, double it. Not sure why, but always remembered that one.
     
    mediaguy, Jan 10, 2011
    #3
  4. Hoos3725

    Hoos3725 Member

    Correct. While it may seem backwards, like you said, you're not counting minutes. It's an amount of time, now a number of minutes. Amount -- less; number -- fewer.
     
    Hoos3725, Jan 10, 2011
    #4
  5. Brian

    Brian Well-Known Member

    Maybe the stations are run by Brits.
     
    Brian, Jan 10, 2011
    #5
  6. MonsterLobster

    MonsterLobster Member

    I'm sure it was a simple mistake. No need to go on the defence.
     
    MonsterLobster, Jan 11, 2011
    #6
  7. Double J

    Double J Active Member

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    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 15, 2014
    Double J, Jan 11, 2011
    #7
  8. deskslave

    deskslave Active Member

    Indeed. If it was two minutes or fewer, it would be drives of two minutes, one minute and, I suppose, zero minutes.

    A basketball player would play fewer minutes than his teammates, however.
     
    deskslave, Jan 11, 2011
    #8
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