Language Bugaboos
September 11, 2009I applauded when my grocery store changed their sign over the express checkout line to read, “12 items or fewer.” The misuse of “less” and neglect of “fewer” is one thing that I find grating. (Fewer snowflakes, less snow.)
Another annoying point is people who say so and so is “a faculty.” I work in an academic institution and this usage comes up often both verbally and in writing. In a spoken conversation, I can accept it as a form of verbal shorthand, but in formal writing, in a proposal, to a federal funding agency – no. Of course an advanced degree means, to some, that they are never wrong even if their degree is in an arcane field that gave them little exposure to the study of English.
The other day our provost sent out a memo and in the first paragraph was touting “new” initiatives. I quit reading at that point.
But my question of the day is how come we talk about walnuts and beech nuts, but not oak nuts?
Gunsmoke and Knitting 
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