To think that grammar matters and to ring Tesco to berate them for their "Same luxury, less lorries" sticker on my loo roll?

[SmiteYouWithThunderbolts]

As the title says really... As if "10 Items or Less" wasn't infuriating enough, Tesco have now extended this to proudly proclaiming that they use LESS lorries to transport their packs of loo roll.

I would like to ring them just to scream the word "FEWER" down the phone at them.

It does matter, doesn't it? Ok, so perhaps in forums and private emails it matters less if there are a handful of errors here and there, but on advertising and packaging from a national supermarket chain, AIBU to expect them to at least use the correct words?

Did that bit of packaging really make it through every level of their massive marketing department without a single person pointing out the erroneous use of "less"? Or was it a conscious decision because... well... Nope, I cannot fathom the logic of why anyone would knowingly use the wrong word.

This actually made me cross enough to take a photo of the offending item and tweet it to Tesco. That was maybe slightly U of me.

YANBU. If a large company publicly uses bad grammar like this it gives children in particular the impression that what they have said is correct. It would hardly kill them to get it right - surely a company like Tesco's can afford to employ someone literate.

I don't see the problem with "10 or less", either, it is an easy read instruction.

But so is "10 or fewer".

Or THEIRS an idea! Ha!

YANBU. I would definitely get in get in touch with them. Tell them that if they don't want to have less profit and fewer customers, they should change it!

How do you mean, 'get it right?' What should they have said to be both grammatically correct and preserve their catchy alliteration?

Would annoy me too! YANBU.

I would send them a letter.

There's nothing wrong with the Ocado one.

If the Tesco thing were in another language, French, Italian, German...the company would be a public laughing stock. Because Brits like to revel in their own "I'm thick innit" mediocrity, it's the person who points out the mistake that gets the stick......;-)

I doubt it was a mistake!

I think Amazon still tell you that your order has dispatched....

Infuriating indeed.

Can't bear Tesco anyway.

Am a language teacher so it matters to me.

Why is fewer better than less? The earliest English writing didn't have the rule. The earliest reference is in an 18th style guide and was not given as a rule but just the authors preference. There is no confusion about the terms in spoken English you almost never hear fewer spoken, so why do you care?

Why do you think the preference of Baker in the 18th century is more correct than the preference of other writers (people like Shakespeare and Dickens...

It strikes me as just a shibboleth used by people to call people out as stupid so they can feel superior.

YANBU.

Fewer is better because that is the accepted usage these days. Lots of words and grammar have changed over the centuries but it is normal to expect the English used in public or formal situations to conform to a certain standard. I'm not sure why pointing out this error has anything to do with people being stupid. Clearly that link exists for you, could you explain it?

I contacted Tesco recently as on the approach road there were dozens of signs stating that there were 1000's of savings available. Someone is paid to produce these and it isn't good enough. So YANBU.

I am very stupid.

Please can someone explain to dumb 'ol me why the word "less" should have been "fewer"?

It could mean that the lorries are devoid of luxury, in that case it would merely be missing a dash:
Same Luxury-less lorries.
I don't know why they need to tell us how basic the transport is though...

I think you all overestimate how many people are needed to produce/sign off this kind of thing. I used to work for a company which produced packaging for major high street retailers and supermarkets, and it basically came down to what I said went. We had a huge hoo ha one year when someone 'corrected' something I had written when it was at proofing stage and I had to go back to my original work to prove that I had used the right punctuation and it had been changed subsequently, which meant that after that I was rarely questioned.
In terms of language evolving, I don't think it helps to retain rules which don't really add to understanding and serve mostly to contribute to more people being 'wrong'. I am happy to change my mind over fewer and less if someone can give me an example of how using the wrong one could lead to a misunderstanding or a lack of clarity, but as it stands, it is one of the few grammatical 'errors' that doesn't really bother me, although these do include the pointless insistence about not splitting infinitives and a positive preference for finding propositions to end my sentences on.

GAH Prepositions! Although if I was propositioning someone I would try and end it with a preposition.

'Less' should be used for amounts, and 'fewer' for numbers.
So, 'less mess,' 'fewer lorries.'

So, Dojo, if you know about labelling and packaging, who at Homebase would have been responsible for the boxes I saw in there recently that had written on them, "Winchester Chest of Draws?"

At least it didn't say Chester Draws

Thank you Clam, I never knew.

Whats wrong with the chest of drawers thing though?

Ahh. The missing "er." I wouldn't have noticed!

I was never responsible for packaging at Homebase, but I imagine it would probably be one of their suppliers. Moreso, given that it was just a product title and not designed to be sales copy, it was probably someone fairly low down the food chain who typed that, along with a thousand other product titles, into a database somewhere in their system from which a list was produced to go to the packaging printers, who were most likely not in this country. Either way, I doubt that the CEO signed it off, or indeed anyone even close to that far up the hierarchy, which explains how it can easily happen.

clam can you explain further. My little brain doesn't understand either! To my mind people can have an amout of shopping, and there can be an approximate amount of lotteries delivering etc?