Less or fewer?

[TiggyR]

I've just seen an advert for Volvo claiming their car had less emissions. I thought 'fewer, surely' but now I'm confusing myself. Emissions is plural and should therefore be fewer, and it is possible to have a single emission. On the other hand, emissions are (not is!)generally considered to be an indefinable mass, like gas, air, water and pollution, so perhaps the plural word for emission should also be emission, and we could then say less not fewer. But whilst the word is emissions it is fewer, non? And WTF do I even care? Do you think Volvo has done this on purpose, because if so it has worked. The sort of people who buy Volvos worry about this stuff.

If I write to them I might get a free Volvo....one the other hand they may just bung me on their mailing list and send me three forests for the the rest of my life, therefore wiping out any good done by their 'less emissions' car.

I think it should be less emission, or fewer emissions.

So they're wrong either way.

Tiggy, you got too much thinking space going on in your head go kill a few brain cells with a stiff drink and you will feel better. Oh - just remembered it is still Sunday morning, bit early perhaps for that solution

Less emissions if it means it emits less volume of the stuff that it emits.

Fewer emissions if it only emits 23 chemicals vs 27 emitted by other cars.

Maybe.

In which case the plural is redundant in your first example, DCMB...

So again, they are wrong either way. Free Volvo here we come....

Just as an aside, I believe a mass noun is something like children or people, (where the plural is not the regular s) but is treated as a singular with apostrophes (linking to other thread) e.g. the children's shoes. Nouns like gas, air, water (and hair for that matter) are I think, irregular usages i.e. are of sort of indefinite mass but treated as singular e.g. my hair is short.

Or should it be lower emissions?