1) Literally: This means "actually". It's not a term of emphasis. It's OK to say "The kids I work with are literally young enough I could be their father" (in writing this would be superfluous, but in conversation it would be fine). It's not OK to say "I literally died when I thought of how young these kids are." If you died you wouldn't be saying it. Rather "I could have died..." or "I wanted to die..."
2) Fewer v. less: This is screwed up all the time, even in reputable outlets. Think of it this way: If you can individually count something, you say "fewer", but if you can't count individual units (e.g., you would measure the amount on a continuous scale that could have fractions and decimals), you say less. Examples below.
Correct: "I spend less money now than before"
Wrong: "I spend fewer money..."
Correct: "I spend fewer dollars..."
Correct: "I write fewer checks..."
Correct: "I get fewer bills..."
Correct: "Thus I have less debt overall and owe fewer creditors."
Get it?
Correct: "There was less water than last year"
Correct: "There were fewer water molecules..."
Correct: "Fewer students passed the exam this year"
Wrong: "Less students passed..."
Correct: "Fewer teachers reported satisfaction with their job this year because fewer students passed the exam."
No comments:
Post a Comment