The return of nature

Re:The return of nature by RyanMcGreal on Friday September 04, 2015 @02:27PM (#10172062)

> Americans now grow more food on less acres

Arrgh. We would have accepted "fewer acres" or "less acreage".

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Re:The return of nature by throwaway1967 on Friday September 04, 2015 @02:39PM (#10172135)

Wrong. "Less" instead of "fewer" has been standard English for over 300 years.

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Re:The return of nature by yarrel on Friday September 04, 2015 @02:42PM (#10172147)

Apparently so but I've not heard it before and it's jarring.

Everyone else is clearly marching out of step.

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Re:The return of nature by pc2g4d on Friday September 04, 2015 @06:08PM (#10173062)

I always thought "less" preceded mass nouns and "fewer" preceded count nouns. "less acres" feels slightly sloppy to me. But we all understood what was meant, so maybe it doesn't matter.

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