Re: OT language stuff (was Re: Class.forName().newInstance() vs new)

From	Michael Wojcik <mwojcik@newsguy.com>
Newsgroups	comp.lang.java.programmer
Subject	Re: OT language stuff (was Re: Class.forName().newInstance() vs new)
Date	2011-06-23 12:04 -0400
Organization	Micro Focus
Message-ID	<itvq8d62avs@news2.newsguy.com> (permalink)
References	<it07on$ilc$1@speranza.aioe.org> <alpine.DEB.2.00.1106212257590.6476@urchin.earth.li> <QY9Mp.28015$F25.23411@newsfe04.iad> <nospam-BE4336.23005721062011@news.aioe.org> <96f040F46aU5@mid.individual.net>

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blmblm@myrealbox.com wrote:
> 
> Just for the record, I don't think I meant to claim that there
> was anything wrong with Arved's sentence, even to those pedantic
> prescriptivists who disapprove of using "less" where "fewer" would
> work.  I think there might be a subtle distinction between fewer
> people who understand, and people in general understanding less,
> but -- maybe not.

There's definitely a distinction between those two concepts. It's just
not definitively captured by the use of "less" in that sentence, which
could be interpreted as either without straining normal meanings of
the words involved.

However, convention suggests that "the less" in that sentence is the
adverbial "the less", and not part of a noun phrase "the less people"
meaning not as many people.

This is one place where, for clarity, it would be useful to use
"fewer" *if* that was what the author wanted to convey. (In this case
it wasn't.) As Arved said elsethread, however, you'd have to do some
editing to arrive at a palatable construction using "fewer". One
option would be "the higher you went ... the fewer the people who were
able ...".

-- 
Michael Wojcik
Micro Focus
Rhetoric & Writing, Michigan State University

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Class.forName().newInstance() vs new Abu Yahya <abu_yahya@invalid.com> - 2011-06-11 22:43 +0530
  Re: Class.forName().newInstance() vs new David Lamb <dalamb@cs.queensu.ca> - 2011-06-11 13:46 -0400
  Re: Class.forName().newInstance() vs new Robert Klemme <shortcutter@googlemail.com> - 2011-06-11 19:49 +0200
    Re: Class.forName().newInstance() vs new Patricia Shanahan <pats@acm.org> - 2011-06-11 11:04 -0700
      Re: Class.forName().newInstance() vs new Abu Yahya <abu_yahya@invalid.com> - 2011-06-11 23:52 +0530
      Re: Class.forName().newInstance() vs new Robert Klemme <shortcutter@googlemail.com> - 2011-06-12 14:05 +0200
        Re: Class.forName().newInstance() vs new Patricia Shanahan <pats@acm.org> - 2011-06-12 07:10 -0700
          Re: Class.forName().newInstance() vs new Martin Gregorie <martin@address-in-sig.invalid> - 2011-06-12 14:37 +0000
            Re: Class.forName().newInstance() vs new Robert Klemme <shortcutter@googlemail.com> - 2011-06-12 18:17 +0200
              Re: Class.forName().newInstance() vs new Joshua Cranmer <Pidgeot18@verizon.invalid> - 2011-06-12 15:25 -0400
            Re: Class.forName().newInstance() vs new lewbloch <lewbloch@gmail.com> - 2011-06-15 06:58 -0700
              Re: Class.forName().newInstance() vs new Nigel Wade <nmw-news@ion.le.ac.uk> - 2011-06-16 10:16 +0100
          Re: Class.forName().newInstance() vs new Robert Klemme <shortcutter@googlemail.com> - 2011-06-12 18:10 +0200
    Re: Class.forName().newInstance() vs new Abu Yahya <abu_yahya@invalid.com> - 2011-06-11 23:53 +0530
      Re: Class.forName().newInstance() vs new "John B. Matthews" <nospam@nospam.invalid> - 2011-06-11 15:43 -0400
        Re: Class.forName().newInstance() vs new "John B. Matthews" <nospam@nospam.invalid> - 2011-06-11 15:50 -0400
          Re: Class.forName().newInstance() vs new lewbloch <lewbloch@gmail.com> - 2011-06-15 06:49 -0700
            Re: Class.forName().newInstance() vs new Michael Wojcik <mwojcik@newsguy.com> - 2011-06-16 11:21 -0400
              Re: Class.forName().newInstance() vs new lewbloch <lewbloch@gmail.com> - 2011-06-17 06:45 -0700
                Re: Class.forName().newInstance() vs new Michael Wojcik <mwojcik@newsguy.com> - 2011-06-17 12:29 -0400
                Re: Class.forName().newInstance() vs new Lewis Bloch <lewisbloch@google.com> - 2011-06-17 11:07 -0700
                Re: Class.forName().newInstance() vs new "John B. Matthews" <nospam@nospam.invalid> - 2011-06-18 02:01 -0400
                Re: Class.forName().newInstance() vs new Arved Sandstrom <asandstrom3minus1@eastlink.ca> - 2011-06-18 10:19 -0300
                Re: Class.forName().newInstance() vs new Robert Klemme <shortcutter@googlemail.com> - 2011-06-18 20:16 +0200
                OT language stuff (was Re: Class.forName().newInstance() vs new) blmblm@myrealbox.com <blmblm.myrealbox@gmail.com> - 2011-06-20 19:19 +0000
                Re: OT language stuff (was Re: Class.forName().newInstance() vs new) Martin Gregorie <martin@address-in-sig.invalid> - 2011-06-20 20:46 +0000
                Re: OT language stuff (was Re: Class.forName().newInstance() vs new) blmblm@myrealbox.com <blmblm.myrealbox@gmail.com> - 2011-06-21 20:42 +0000
                Re: OT language stuff (was Re: Class.forName().newInstance() vs new) Gene Wirchenko <genew@ocis.net> - 2011-06-21 14:22 -0700
                Re: OT language stuff (was Re: Class.forName().newInstance() vs new) Arved Sandstrom <asandstrom3minus1@eastlink.ca> - 2011-06-20 18:55 -0300
                Re: OT language stuff (was Re: Class.forName().newInstance() vs new) Tom Anderson <twic@urchin.earth.li> - 2011-06-21 23:29 +0100
                Re: OT language stuff (was Re: Class.forName().newInstance() vs new) Arved Sandstrom <asandstrom3minus1@eastlink.ca> - 2011-06-21 20:39 -0300
                Re: OT language stuff (was Re: Class.forName().newInstance() vs new) "John B. Matthews" <nospam@nospam.invalid> - 2011-06-21 23:00 -0400
                Re: OT language stuff (was Re: Class.forName().newInstance() vs new) Tom Anderson <twic@urchin.earth.li> - 2011-06-22 20:02 +0100
                Re: OT language stuff (was Re: Class.forName().newInstance() vs new) blmblm@myrealbox.com <blmblm.myrealbox@gmail.com> - 2011-06-22 20:03 +0000
                Re: OT language stuff (was Re: Class.forName().newInstance() vs new) Michael Wojcik <mwojcik@newsguy.com> - 2011-06-23 12:04 -0400
                Re: OT language stuff (was Re: Class.forName().newInstance() vs new) Michael Wojcik <mwojcik@newsguy.com> - 2011-06-23 11:58 -0400
                Re: Class.forName().newInstance() vs new Gene Wirchenko <genew@ocis.net> - 2011-06-20 14:01 -0700
                Re: Class.forName().newInstance() vs new Arved Sandstrom <asandstrom3minus1@eastlink.ca> - 2011-06-20 18:53 -0300
                Re: Class.forName().newInstance() vs new Michael Wojcik <mwojcik@newsguy.com> - 2011-06-21 19:53 -0400
                Re: Class.forName().newInstance() vs new blmblm@myrealbox.com <blmblm.myrealbox@gmail.com> - 2011-06-22 20:01 +0000
                Re: Class.forName().newInstance() vs new Michael Wojcik <mwojcik@newsguy.com> - 2011-06-23 12:16 -0400
                OT language stuff (was Re: Class.forName().newInstance() vs new) blmblm@myrealbox.com <blmblm.myrealbox@gmail.com> - 2011-06-20 19:18 +0000
                Re: OT language stuff (was Re: Class.forName().newInstance() vs new) Martin Gregorie <martin@address-in-sig.invalid> - 2011-06-20 20:52 +0000
        Re: Class.forName().newInstance() vs new Robert Klemme <shortcutter@googlemail.com> - 2011-06-12 14:14 +0200
  Re: Class.forName().newInstance() vs new Patricia Shanahan <pats@acm.org> - 2011-06-11 11:01 -0700
  Re: Class.forName().newInstance() vs new Roedy Green <see_website@mindprod.com.invalid> - 2011-06-13 06:16 -0700
  Re: Class.forName().newInstance() vs new Ian Shef <invalid@avoiding.spam> - 2011-06-14 20:07 +0000

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