Warning to born-again bikers to cut death toll

Which is why it's important to teach these distinctions.

"Less sheep" would refer to a smaller portion of one individual sheep.
"Fewer sheep" would refer to a smaller flock of several sheep. Not in
itself particularly useful but it does show that there *are* things you
can say with one word and not the other.[1]

The allegation that ">90% of the population manage without it" really
doesn't matter. I'm sure we could manage without the word "magenta", or
"motorcycle", either; that doesn't mean that we should. One of the things
which makes English a great language is the immense vocabulary and the
subtleties of meaning which it can be used to convey. I accept that
transmission of information comes first, but there's no reason *not* to
try to keep it as powerful a tool of expression as possible.

[1] Omne could probably determine the meaning from context, but if you
understand the words then you need *less* context, making the language
more efficient.

 

Ok, try it with fish instead of sheep then.

 

When is the next edition of the UKRM Newspeak Dictionary out?

 

<considers field>

"There are less fish in that field than sheep."

 

Let's say you have two small fish on your plate and I have one huge
fish on my plate.

I have fewer fish than you but you have less fish than I do.

 

There is less sheep in this tank of formaldehyde than there is in that
one.

 

That's got nothing to do with fish.

 

On Sat, 07 May 2005 09:24:45 +0100, Champ wrote:

<SNIP Nothing of consequence>

Actually, I think it's the part of my argument that you snipped that's the
most powerful. I assume, since you ignored it, that you agree?

 

We don't *need* them. You keep saying that language is just about
communication; well, I don't think that there's anything I can't
communicate without either of those words.

You want us to do away with the word "fewer" and have "less" server double
duty. Is that because:

a. It doesn't (iyo) serve any useful purpose.
b. Hardly anybody knows what it means.

You've said you'd keep "magenta" and "motorcycle", so I guess that looks
like "b". So do you want English reduced to a couple of thousand words?
Because there are *lots* of words which far more than 90% of the English
speaking word have never heard of.

 

The pirranah ate the rest of the sheep.

 

In which case what are the opposites of less and fewer?

To my mind the answer in both cases is 'more', BICBW.

 

Or moose?

 

"Colour"

 

You're not.

--
| ___ Salad Dodger
|/ \
_/_____\_ GL1500SEV/CBR1100XXX/KH500A8/TS250C
|_\_____/_| ..75073../..18420.../..3184./.19406
(>|_|_|<) TPPFATUICG#7 DIAABTCOD#9 YTC#4 PM#5
|__|_|__| BOTAFOT #70 BOTAFOF #09 two#11 WG*
\ |^| / IbW#0 & KotIbW# BotTOS#6 GP#4
\|^|/ ANORAK#17 IbB#4
'^' RBR Landmarks: 12 Pts: 220 Miles: 914

 

Verdigris wrote

Well done.

 

Isn't "many" the opposite of "few"?

 

Platy's finest hour.

 

So what if it is?

--
| ___ Salad Dodger
|/ \
_/_____\_ GL1500SEV/CBR1100XXX/KH500A8/TS250C
|_\_____/_| ..75073../..18420.../..3184./.19406
(>|_|_|<) TPPFATUICG#7 DIAABTCOD#9 YTC#4 PM#5
|__|_|__| BOTAFOT #70 BOTAFOF #09 two#11 WG*
\ |^| / IbW#0 & KotIbW# BotTOS#6 GP#4
\|^|/ ANORAK#17 IbB#4
'^' RBR Landmarks: 12 Pts: 220 Miles: 914

 

What's the difference between motorbike and motorcycle. Do we really
need both?

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, Bear

Oh, I'm rather fond of "crevice". Can we drop "parasol" instead?

--
Wicked Uncle Nigel - Manufacturer of the "Champion-105" range of rearsets
and Ducati Race Engineer.

WS* GHPOTHUF#24 APOSTLE#14 DLC#1 COFF#20 BOTAFOT#150 HYPO#0(KoTL) IbW#41
ZZR1100, Enfield 500 Curry House Racer "The Basmati Rice Burner",
Honda GL1000K2 (On its hols) Kawasaki ZN1300 Voyager "Oh, Oh, It's so big"