Less is less. It is not always fewer. I once began a sentence in conversation with Jeremy Paxman with the words ‘Less people…’ FEWER! The grand inquisitor exploded and I was cowed. For days, nay months, afterwards I worried about my grammar. Why not less? Why is it that everyone on the BBC uses the word fewer even when it is inappropriate? From which heavenly body did this commandment emanate?
In the true esprit de l’escalier – a French expression that hints at the sense of loss one feels when one remembers the correct riposte too late – I badgered him on our next meeting. ‘Do you think more people are in favour of Brexit now, Jeremy?’ Oh definitely, he replied. I had him trapped. If you could allow more people, what was wrong with less? He was, momentarily, discombobulated.
