Finally, his frustration was too much to bear, and Stefan took it upon himself to fix the signs. But he didn't stop there ...
He will not join the 'five items or less' queue at the supermarket, in protest that the sign should read 'five items or fewer'.
He also gets annoyed when people-neglect the 'Royal' in 'Royal Tunbridge Wells', and was vexed when he saw a major chain store advertising sales with signs saying 'until stocks last' rather than 'while stocks last'.
'I fought for the preservation of our heritage and our language but some people seem happy to let that go. I'm not,' he said.
From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by coconutnut.
Something that should be fixed in the english language is it needs to be more phonetic. What is up with the silent letters? Or the "ch" making a "k" sound? And all the vowels make all kinds of sounds. It can be very difficult for a foreigner to learn. Maybe text-speak will fix some of those problems...
Yes, pretty much actually. But to the difference: the educated writers who are referenced in descriptive grammar analyses don't include grammarians themselves. Descriptive comparisons would lose all meaning if grammarians were included as examples, since it is the grammarians directives that are being assessed. But I think you already knew why grammarians, who are merely writers about writing, would be excluded, right? What I find most amusing in descriptive references are the numerous examples of grammarians contradicting their own rules, often applying the usage in the very same assertion in which they are condemning it!
I'm not refering to day-to-day conversation but at least in governmental signs or shopping windows, i guess i mean public displays.
Just because we have gotten used to hear or read phrases like "10 items or less" it doesn't mean it's the correct way.