Volvo - less emissions

[Icanseethesea]

Do correct me (gently) if I am wrong, but shouldn't it be 'fewer emissions'?

Yes, I'd say it should be less emission or fewer emissions.

When I read the thread title I could hear my mother saying "fewer emissions" in my head, so yes, fewer emissions, IMO.

Glad you agree

It's on the advert I saw a few minutes ago

Hmmm ... I'm happy with less, frankly. I would say 'fewer' if it was countable - if you could say, 'oh, this car has 7 emissions, that one only has 6'.

I'm with NQC (and I think that this one is pedantically ever so interesting, partly because I can't think of an analogy ... it's not about fewer of a number, it's about less (in quantity) of multiple things). Like, er, less precipitation (about weather) but trying to get in the idea that you're talking about rain and snow and hail. I guess the problem is that they weren't able to decide that "emission" was collective enough.

I can imagine the Volvo/ad people doing their heads in over it too. Oh, I do hope they did & this isn't just a lazy one ...

Actually, had I been retained, I think I'd have recommended "lower emissions".

Why, d'you think, they didn't use that?

Yeah, 'lower emissions' is nicer. Maybe they worried people would think that meant the emissions stayed closer to the ground?

Good point re: there being multiple types of emissions involved, I hadn't thought of that.

Oh, yes, can you imagine them all stressing about how the implication might be that the emissions were now at more precisely targeted pushchair height?

It's quite funny.

Anyway, I've decided on a theory of why it's weird. It's because it's been translated from Swedish.