Using less instead of fewer. Fewer is quantitative, Less is qualitative. Fewer rain drops, less rain.
Yea sorry to say, but this is one of my signs of being poorly educated. Really don’t want to be harsh, and I’m all with you on being accurate and correct with language and expression. But language changes and always has trade offs and with accuracy and comprehension. There’s strictly no reason for a language to distinguish quantitative and qualitative amounts at this level.
And at some point, requiring compliance with rules like this, against the grain of the language’s evolution, becomes pedantry, which, I’m sorry to say, is often the signalling of being educated by those desperate to appear so.
I really hope this doesn’t come off as harsh and rude. It’s definitely useful to have this in the language, if you’re completely on top of it. But from what I’ve seen, even the most educated and smart people can trip on this because it’s just awkwardly unnecessary enough that it doesn’t really matter unless you’re keen to ensure you’re using “proper English”.
Especially in English, which is incredibly idiosyncratic.
I have an English degree so obviously I care about this shit. But I’ve spent enough time in the world to understand that there is more than one kind of education. I know brilliant sofrware programmers who might fuck up less/fewer. They’re not stupid. They have lots of education. I’m an idiot compared to them when it comes to logic and math. I have a friend who’s a master gardener, accomplished photographer, welder, electronics teacher, small business owner, IT technician, and a really good cook. He probably screws up a word here and there. He’s vastly more educated and intelligent than me.
So yeah… we should all just back off on being pedants about grammar and vocabulary rules, just a little bit.
I don't agree with this one. The meaning of words change and that's true of 'Less'.
I generally don't agree with these prescriptivist positions though.
In my country, educated just means you came from money, and did some busy work. Largely idiots tbh.
I'm going to interpret poorly educated as badly educated as opposed to just not.
Imo the best sign of someone who has been brought up wrong is a total inability to tell the difference between what is legal and what is moral. Don't smoke weed because its illegal. Those homeless people shouldn't have slept outside if they didn't want to be arrested. Nazis should be allowed to march in the ghetto. I've heard all of those from people that have been raised wrong. They don't have any capacity for care, and they're basically just robots fullfilling whatever function they've been told is expected of them. Their hobby is watching tv. They have a wife that they never talk to.
Well we definitely have a lot of reddit in this thread. Reminds me why I looked for alternatives in the first place.
Using "I" as the object instead of the subject, like saying "The waiter brought drinks to my friend and I."
religion and the belief in the supernatural/paranormal. also the belief in conspiracy theories.
conspiracy theories i agree with, but religion? organized religion, definitely. joining a religion with a hierarchy signals that you want someone else to give you all the answers, which is very much a mark of poor education. but religious beliefs are not an automatic marker of poor education, as long as they're sincerely held, don't supersede science, and are frequently revisited and revised based on personal experience and knowledge. even basic, broad frameworks like animism or some parts of Buddhism can help you make sense of the world when science can't help you
💀
They think opinions are facts.
A loosely moderated place to ask open-ended questions
If your post meets the following criteria, it's welcome here!
Looking for support?
Looking for a community?
~Icon~ ~by~ ~@Double_A@discuss.tchncs.de~