This is a comic that Eve Corbel and I did together for Word Under the Street 2006. It was created to demonstrate what people could win when they entered our One Panel Starring Me contest– they told us a story and we chose one to illustrate. Watch for the winner’s story… coming soon to sarahleavitt.com and truefunnies.ca.
A lot of cyclists have a sticker on their bikes that says “One Less Car.” I fully support the sentiment, but the grammar sucks. It should say “One Fewer Car” or “One Car Fewer.” Why?
You use “fewer” when talking about things you can count, like bicycles or people or cars or traffic accidents.
You use “less” when talking about a quantity of something that cannot be counted, like sugar or happiness or guilt or rain.
“Less” is more commonly misused than “fewer.” These are incorrect:
More bicycles means less cars.
There have been a lot less accidents since they put in speed bumps.
There’s been a lot less people coming by the store today.
You can sometimes use “less” with countable items if those items together form a unit, like “less than ten feet”– the ten feet are not ten separate countable items, but one unit. Similarly, you would say something cost “less than five dollars.”
If you see someone hovering around a bike rack with a Sharpie, that’s me.
These wee 2″ square fridge magnets debuted at Word Under the Street 2006 and sold fast. The drawings were originally published in Geist magazine No. 58. Want some? They are $2 each and $10 for a set of 6. If you are in the Vancouver area I can get them to you. If not, email me and we will work it out.
