If you wanna speak good, looky here

It’s not as if I’m an expert in the English language. I teach it, and I have some experience writing it. But I make mistakes regularly in conversation, and I sometimes slip in how I construct my stories (mea culpa).

Still, anyone can make a mistake, especially if you listen to television advertisements. I heard one for Slim Fast this morning that talked about “less calories.”

Oh? How about fewer calories.

The difference involves measurement of amount (e.g., volume) versus number (e.g., quantity). As Dr. Paul Brians of Washington State University says in his book “Common Errors in English Usage,” “The confusion between the two categories of words relating to amount and number is so pervasive that those of us who still distinguish between them constitute an endangered species.”

Brians’ wholesome example: “You can eat fewer cookies, but you drink less milk.”

Mine: “You can drink fewer beers, but you swill less ale.”