On 20/11/2018 11:34 AM, David wrote:
Even the ABC article about the laser work at Stromlo referred to "the amount of pieces in orbit" instead of the "number of pieces".
I know! Number, fewer and less. Drives me bonkers!! Even print journalists mess those up. I want to scream at them "I would like fewer water, please", just to see if they spot what's wrong with that.
I'm reading a Bill Bryson book that is fantastic, called Made In America: An Informal History of the English Language In the United States. It covers many common phrases attributed to specific persons that they didn't actually say at all. I'm just in the chapter where he is talking about the explosion of Americanisms in the 1800s, many of which are forgotten British words, but the proper speakers from England didn't know that. It is a humbling experience, though. Some of the words he describes are still in use here.
Link to communications. Language is fluid, technology changes, and the mixing of languages occurs from that new technology today rather than the movement and isolation of people in the past.
Jan -- Melbourne, Victoria, Australia [email protected] Twitter: @JL_Whitaker Blog: www.janwhitaker.com Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you fill in the space between here and there? It's yours. Seize your space. ~Margaret Atwood, writer _ __________________ _ _______________________________________________ Link mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/link
