English lesson: Tesco revises its grammar...

[Sweetpea]

but still manages to make a blunder...

Ever queued at the 'ten items or less' checkout at Tesco and found yourself muttering about the appalling grammar in the sign above your head?
Probably not. But if you have, then salvation could be on its way.
After a long-running and heated debate over whether the signs are linguistically correct, they will now be altered to say: 'Up to ten items.'
Tesco has agreed to change the wording following criticism from supporters of good English who had argued that the signs should say 'ten items or fewer' rather than 'ten items or less'.
The solution was suggested by the Plain English Campaign, and Tesco bosses hope it will please everyone.
A Plain English Campaign spokesman said: 'There is a debate about whether the word should be "less" or "fewer".

'Saying "Up to ten items" is easy to understand and avoids any debate.'
That may prove to be wishful thinking, as some would argue 'Up to ten items' could be taken to mean 'ten items and no more' or 'nine items or fewer'.


And not all the new signs are as perfect as they could be - the Daily Mail found one in a Tesco store yesterday that read 'Up to 10 item', with the S missing from 'items'.A Tesco spokesman said: 'The debate about what is right has been going on for years now, and I still don't think we know if "less" or "fewer" is correct.
'The new signs will be in the rollout of new stores. We are not going to see any new ones in existing shops so shoppers in those will not see the change.'
The argument is over whether it is linguistically correct to say 'less than' rather than 'fewer than' when talking about figures.
Some experts say 'fewer' should be used to describe countable things such as exact figures.
They say that 'less' should instead be used to describe quantities which are not countable.
Guidance from the Oxford University Press says: 'Less means "not as much". Fewer means "not as many". This can be tricky when referring to quantities.



English lesson: Tesco revises its grammar, but still manages to make a blunder | Mail Online


I think the less intelligent understand 'less', and 'fewer' might confuse.

Other that that, I think it's a bit picky.

[Neal]

Sounds good to me, anything to keep the Enligh language alive and well.

[Bruv]

Its a free advert....what else could it be?

[Von Spreuth.]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

'Up to ten items' could be taken to mean 'ten items and no more'

Now call me bloody stupid, but I thought that was EXACTLY what was supossed to be meant?

Or did I miss something in the translation?

[Haqa]

Originally Posted by Von Spreuth.

Now call me bloody stupid, but I thought that was EXACTLY what was supossed to be meant?

Or did I miss something in the translation?

I can understand their point, but given the harm that the mega-markets are doing to the retail trade in the UK, I'd rather have the signs read "Up to ten isles" or "10 isles or fewer" or perhaps even "10 stores or less"...

Support your local grocers.... while some still exist!!!

H.

[Churchill]

Originally Posted by Haqa

I'd rather have the signs read "Up to ten isles" or "10 isles or fewer" or perhaps even "10 stores or less"...

H.

LOL aisles? You work for Tesco?

[Haqa]

Hehe... ok... sometimes I shouldn't trust my spellchecker

H.