Gooder writing tip #8

I haven't posted on of these in awhile, and I know your life has suffered for it.

So today's topic is less versus fewer.

Perhaps the most predominant misuse of the word less occurs in grocery stores, in the popular express lanes allowing your use of the lane as long as the items you have do not exceed a certain number. If you're like me, and I know you are, it takes all your strength to put your Bagel Bites and coffee on the checkout counter under the sign that reads "7 items or less" without telling someone, anyone, that "less" should be "fewer."

Despite that pointing this out to my line mates and cashier would make me many instant friends and love interests (you know you would want to make out with me immediately), I have never done so. But it doesn't mean I won't celebrate when I see a correct sign, such as the signs used by Whole Foods, this particlar sign hanging in Whole Foods on Bowery in NYC:




Cheers to you Whole Foods.
(Update: Wegman's uses "fewer" too. I did not mean to neglect my local grocery store.)
Now explanation.

Both less and fewer mean the opposite of more, so it's easy to confuse them, but they are used in different instances: less for "not as much," and fewer for "not as many." Less is used with mass nouns, and fewer is used with count nouns.

What is a mass noun? A plural entity that cannot be counted.
What is a count noun? A plural entity that can be counted.

So, if you can count it (glasses, blankets, crackers, cheese cubes) use fewer.
If you cannot count it (water, love, sun, wine), use less.

The second beach we went to had less sand and fewer lifeguards.
The small cart had less space than the large cart, so I put in fewer items.

Exceptions (because you know they exist): less is used with money, distance, and time.

Jack Lynch, an associate professor of English at Rutgers University has an online style guide, and discusses this topic here.
And of course I recommend Grammar Girl's explanation.

And you're welcome.