Hmm. Fewer or Less?

rogersgeorge on October 30th, 2020

“Less calories”? That can’t be right, can it? We count calories! Ah, but look at the whole sentence.

The Knight Life Comic Strip for August 14, 2020 — https://www.gocomics.com/theknightlife/2020/08/14

We measure sugar! The list of those two items allows us to go with the second item.

Well, technically, perhaps, he should have said “33% fewer calories and 33% less sugar,” but I don’t see that happening, except maybe in technical writing.

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Rogers George has been a technical writer for more than 20 years. He has written on subjects as diverse as outhouse assembly, restaurant reviews, software, information security, and scientific equipment. He has his own writing consultancy and is always happy to discuss writing and grammar. Drop him a line at curmudgeon@writing-rag.com.

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