NPR, your reporters don’t speak too good

During the years I worked at newspapers, I attracted the occasional attention of what we called the Grammar Police. These were, for the most part, people who seemed intent on protecting the English language from those of us who, on occasion, abused the language’s rules.

You know, misusing commas, overusing the passive voice, misspelling words, constructing incomplete sentences. And so on.

It used to bother me, but the fact is that I learned a lot from such letters. So much so that I went on to teach writing at a couple of universities.

Now, it seems, I’ve become a member of the same group. Because recently I’ve heard something, both on television and on the radio, that bugs the hell out of me. It involves the misuse of the words less and fewer.

For the record, less is used in the sense of quantity. Of mass. As In, “Since I lost my job, I have less money.” Fewer is used in the sense of countable components. As in, “Since I lost my job, I have fewer dollars to spend.”

It’s one thing to hear ESPN reporters make such mistakes. But at least three times over the past few weeks, I’ve heard National Public Radio commentators mix up the two. Just yesterday I heard a health reporter talk about the need to eat “less calories.”

Please, NPR, teach your staff members correct English. It’s the most basic skill that they need to have.