fewer cars,' but the rule has some subtleties, and one less is one of
them," wrote Jan Freeman in The Globe's The Word Column last week. "Here's the American Heritage Guide to Contemporary Usage and
Style (2005) on the idiom: 'Less is also used with singular count nouns
in the expression one less, as in "There is one less boat at the landing
now."'"
She continues: "When Theodore Bernstein dealt with less and fewer in 'The Careful
Writer' (1965), he also pointed out that fewer runs into 'idiom
trouble' when the number gets down to one. 'You cannot say "one fewer
seats," nor can you say "one fewer seat." But Bernstein declined to
endorse one less: 'The only escape hatch is "one seat fewer," he said."
What's this mean? It means that the coalition's nifty slogan is pretty much beyond reproach.
But while the Globe's Freeman is a grammar expert, her Web etiquette was a bit lacking. We linked to her article. She did not do us the same favor.
UPDATE: Freeman explains in our comments section -- with cleverness and humor -- that linking to articles is out of her hands. Fair enough.
