All over UpWork, "Less than" is used, it should say "Fewer than"

[bcf4255f]

 I know it's a small detail. But this is a community of professionals, literally tested on their acumen, including English grammar.

Every time I review a page, my inner writing critic groans.

“Less than”, should be “fewer than”

https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/less-versus-fewer

[prestonhunter]

I think it is fine. I know what they mean.

You can read a discussion about this here:

It's been driving me crazy...

[richard_wein]

People like rules, so rules get invented and copied. This is one of those artificially invented "rules" of grammar.

[bcf4255f]

You sound ignorant, sorry.

[bcf4255f]

I know what it means too (everyone does). It's just grammatically incorrect.

[prestonhunter]

Richard lives in England. They gave us this language. And they can take it away.

So be nice.

[colettelewis]

I still want to see where Grig has seen instances of this offence. 

[colettelewis]

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@Grig B wrote:

 I know it's a small detail. But this is a community of professionals, literally tested on their acumen, including English grammar.

Every time I review a page, my inner writing critic groans.

“Less than”, should be “fewer than”

https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/less-versus-fewer

___________________________________

You haven't provided an example - so where have your editorial sensibilities been offended?  

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[bcf4255f · Accepted solution]

I do regret the tone I took. Sorry to all I've offended.

That being said, I learned my grammar from my mum, who taught A-level English in England. The curse of being the offspring of PHDs!

Cited example:

"Proposals: Less than 5"

Ought to read:

"Proposals: Fewer than 5"

Peace!

[prestonhunter]

Thank you for the example. I don't mean to be off-putting or anything, but we understand all that.

There's already a whole thread about this. About this specific example. More than one thread, in fact. I linked to just one. This has already been adjudicated.

You ARE correct that there is a grammar rule about this. But "less than" is the correct phrase to use for the Upwork user interface in this instance. Not because it is or is not "grammatically correct," but because it is mathematically correct and UIX-correct.

[richard_wein]

Grig, I'd be interested to hear where you think grammatical rules come from. Have you thought about that?