Even though I think grammar is useful, it doesn't mean that I think about it all the time. When an article comes up that directly is talking about grammar, though, I pay attention.
The BBC reported today that a corporation is about to make a huge change in the way it does business. Tesco is a huge supermarket chain in Europe, and now it's considering changing the "10 items or less" to "Up to 10 items" which is more grammatically correct.
What's funny to me is that there is this kind of "Grammatical Activism" in the air - I don't know much about The Plain English Campaign, but I'm impressed that those folks were powerful enough to make a difference - even if it means educating someone on the difference between when to use "fewer" and "less." And kudos to Tesco for realizing that even small changes might be important!
"Fewer" is for things that can be counted individually: "I would like more points on the SAT."
"Less" is for things that can't be counted individually: "I would like less stress in my life."
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