• Grimy@lemmy.world
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    4 hours ago

    Is this a grammer thing? I’m fairly certain I can use “a lot less”.

    Hmm nvm, I don’t recognize the meme.

    • TheJesusaurus@piefed.ca
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      4 hours ago

      It is a grammar thing. You can have a lot less of a non-count noun, like sand. But you have to have fewer of countable nouns, like loaves of bread, or bakers of bread

      • toynbee@piefed.social
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        4 hours ago

        Non-countable? I think some vampires might disagree.

        I also thought Thor relevant but I can’t find anything to support that.

        • TheJesusaurus@piefed.ca
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          3 hours ago

          Whether something is a. Punt or non-count noun is more convention than actual ability to be counted

          • toynbee@piefed.social
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            52 minutes ago

            I know, but if I let reality impinge on my comments, it would get a lot harder to make stupid jokes.

    • SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world
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      4 hours ago

      You can use “less” when it’s a non-discrete plurality, such as water or sand (ignoring the technical fact that these can now be observed as discrete components below the macroscopic level) or money (the made-up kind, not necessarily the physical representations thereof). It’s vastly more messy to have 1.78 bakers, and their families get really upset about it, so it’s safer just to use “fewer.”

      • Grimy@lemmy.world
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        4 hours ago

        To be fair, knowing what the first mass production machines looked like, some families definitely got back .78 of their baker.

        Jk tho, thanks for the correction.