Mark: I’ve got some feedback for you—gotta second? (I’m playin’.) It’s a really small point, but I know you pay attention to your choice of words, so perhaps you’ll be receptive to it.
On several occasions, I’ve noticed you say “less” when the correct word is “fewer.” “Fewer” is appropriate when talking about a number, “less” when talking about volume. When you go to a grocery store and they have a sign that says, “11 Items or Less,” it’s wrong. When an executive says “you need less bullets in your powerpoint deck,” they’re wrong. In both cases, they should say “fewer.” If there’s an ‘s’ at the end of the word (i.e. if it’s plural), the correct word is “fewer.” The exceptions to this rule are time and money (which is interesting...). It’s acceptable to say “this should cost less than one million dollars,” or “I’ll need less than 15 minutes.”
I don’t know that this misuse of “less” hurts your effectiveness, but I know you pride yourself on presentation, so I thought I’d mention it. Sorry—somehow they let an English major into business… and I’ve found that “fewer/less” is one of those things—like using the non-word “irregardless”—which can distract those who know the difference.
And I'm guessing the guy who wrote the following would be interested:
"I wasn't sure if this was a paean to schadenfreude, or a pathetic voyeuristic greed fantasy."
Feedback for Mark...
Wow! Chris, that was heavy.
The less vs. fewer has always seemed to be a difficult one for some. I always remember (for written work) that fewer refers to individual things that can be counted and less refers to things cannot be individually counted. It doesn't help that "more" is the opposite of both word. I actually never noticed it used on the show, probably because, used in the spoken word, the use of less / fewer seems to be increasingly acceptable. The one grammatical mistakes that I hear is when people use "badly" instead of "bad". The classic "I feel badly" comment always makes me smile inside.
One of the things I love about this 'cast is the M-T formula of intro, examples, steps defined and then practical ways to use the steps (with natural sounding examples).
I can almost hear Mark and Mike saying now, "It's not about the use of "less" or "fewer", it's about coaching and communication and the need to do more.
Glad to know there's another manager that suffers from OGC "obsessive grammatical correction". Through therapy and medication, as well as months and months of M-T podcasts, I am starting to see improvements.
Feedback for Mark...
Wish me luck with my OGC treatments. I fear I'm too far gone...
Couldn't agree with you more about the practical structure of the M-T model; I'd add to that that the dynamic betw. Mike & Mark is one of the other key strengths of the 'cast. Their friendship is infectious. (Perhaps too much so--I gave feedback to Mark...!?)
Feedback for Mark...
Guys-
I just finished a grueling day with a client. Lots of difficult meetings, several challenges, some adjusting feedback (for me). So, not in a great mood right now...
And I STILL LOVED THIS COMMENT! Many, many thanks for posting it. Don't ever feel you have to apologize for helping us try to be better.
You are of course TOTALLY right... and here's the thing. As much as I pay very close attention to the structure of writing - grammar - I have NEVER noticed this distinction. I think I've always noticed my lack of satisfaction with the construct/my usage... but have never had a solution.
Now I know what I'm doing wrong, and how to correct it.
And! Good catch on the schadenfreude remark. I've been wondering if anyone would pick up on my secret wish to do nothing but write (well). If only I had more time, I could write LESS. (Or, is it fewer?) LOL.
Thanks for making my day and teaching me something to boot. CLASSIC!
:D
Mark
Have had this conversation
Have had this conversation with several of my client-facing colleagues recently. We all deal in numbers and volume (talent management software business), but we continually misuse these words. They accuse me of being an English-teaching grandmother. I think it is great to highlight the difference. I "talk pretty " (or too much) but it always helps to have an assist on this topic.
Mark - just write.