472

What's the most petty/pointless/pedantic hill you're willing to die on? (programming.dev)

submitted 3 months ago by notnotmike@programming.dev to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

1267 comments fedilink hide all child comments

For me, it may be that the toilet paper roll needs to have the open end away from the wall. I don't want to reach under the roll to take a piece! That's ludicrous!

That or my recent addiction to correcting people when they use "less" when they should use "fewer"

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[-] NostraDavid@programming.dev 27 points 3 months ago

That or my recent addiction to correcting people when they use “less” when they should use “fewer”

Remember, kids, "less" is for uncountable things, like liquids, whereas "fewer" is for countable things (like apples).

It's one of many weird rules that English, as a language, has.

[-] tetris11@lemmy.ml 4 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

geringer vs weniger in German, and they have nice counting rules too for "none" and "not".

That's not a dog → Das ist nicht ein Hund (wrong, a dog is countable)
That's no dog → Das ist kein Hund (right, you can count a dog)

Both sentences are valid in English, but only one is valid in German

[-] Semjaza@lemmynsfw.com 4 points 3 months ago

With a few odd exceptions, which is why "five items or less" is actually correct.

Which is why English is even more fun.

[-] FUBAR@lemm.ee 4 points 3 months ago

I guess it makes sense. Less than 5 can be considered variable thus not countable

[-] JackbyDev@programming.dev 1 points 3 months ago

Fewer is only for countable things, but less can be either.

this post was submitted on 23 Aug 2024

472 points (98.2% liked)

Ask Lemmy

26980 readers

1307 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions

Please don't post about US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world

Rules: (interactive)

1) Be nice and; have fun

Doxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them

2) All posts must end with a '?'

This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?

3) No spam

Please do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.

4) NSFW is okay, within reason

Just remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].

5) This is not a support community.

It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.

Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.