When I was in the grocery store the other day, I noticed the express checkout line had a sign that read “9 items or less”. Interestingly enough, I have seen the same thing at different stores. This is a problem.
Less
We use less when we can’t quantify something (i.e. less air, less water, less grass).
Fewer
When we can quantify something, like the number of grocery items in one’s cart, we should use fewer (i.e. fewer vials of air, fewer glasses of water, fewer blades of grass).
Is the grocery industry going to end up destroying English grammar as we know it?