OMFG that's bad...looks like someone actually spent some time on it too (they were probably all proud of the nice sign they made). I also like the randomly un-capitalized "pay" and "you" among the all capitalized words.

Hey mods...let's give octopi a custom undertitle of "often objectionable" and see if she notices.

Racist ban

A sign at the entrance to the parking lot next to my office building. I walk past it every day, and it drives me crazy. They have an identical sign at each of the three entrances to the lot, and more posted in random spots up and down the street.

well unless the meters also have a "2 hours or less" that is more than $4. Then it would be beating the meter's 2 Hours or Less deal

But yeah, it's probably just wrong.

Also they used a backtick instead of an apostrophe.

"2 hours or less"

Isn't "less" in this case correct because "hours" is a measuring unit as opposed to an item?

No. "Less" is used for things which cannot be counted. Hours can be counted.

I'm too lazy to look this up, but intuitively I don't feel like using "less" is an error when dealing with something non-discrete like time. I mean an hour and 40 minutes isn't really "fewer hours" than 2, but it's less time.

ETA: Okay I got unlazy. According to some random website that isn't official or anything, "less" is used with time and money.

As claunchy said. But note that it would be two hours or fewer if the writer were refering to discrete hours. Say, for example, you bought your girlfriend a package of one-hour massages; then she might have used two hours, or fewer than two.

But while you can count hours, that's not how it's meant when you're measuring an essentially continuous quantity in those units. Other examples: trucks must be (say) fourteen feet or less to pass under a bridge; the tub held forty gallons of water, or maybe less (but contrast going to the store and getting forty gallons of milk (in one-gallon containers), or maybe fewer because who the hell needs forty of them?

I think the rule you found is for when saying "this takes less time than that" or "this costs less than that". Not that you'd ever phrase it this way, but if you were actually using discrete units, you'd say "this thing costs fewer dollars than that one" or "this lasts for fewer minutes than the other one does".

Therefore in LouisCypher's example, "2 hours or fewer" would be technically correct, but it sort of implies that the service in question is going to take some exact number of hours (2, 1, or zero). The other way is like saying "2 hours or less [time]" so I guess it's acceptable...now I've confused myself.

2 hours or less is perfectly fine. It's the apostrophe that's the problem. I'm also annoyed by the random capitalization of Hours and Less.

It shouldn't be an apostrophe either.

Gman,

No one would ever say either of your examples though. They'd say "less money" and "less time," respectively.

You would, however, say "This watch cost less than $100" rather than "fewer than $100."

I have a tricky thing similar to less/fewer that comes up with a client of mine (copywriting):

Completing a degree in as little as six months/as few as six months.

For some reason I always go to "little," because I just think it sounds better. But she corrected me, and I think she's right, that it's actually "fewer."

No she's not, you are. You are measuring a continuous quantity, time, in a certain unit, months. The choice between less and fewer depends on whether you are measuring or counting. You are measuring a period of time, not counting months.

It would be fewer than two semesters, but it definitely is less than (or as little as, which is equivalent in this sense) six months.

Hm, I feel like correcting her at this point is probably futile.

I don't know if this is correct 100% of the time, but a rule I've thought of is that you use less/fewer depending on whether you'd use much/many (repectively) when measuring/counting the same thing. For example:

"How much time?" "Two hours or less."
"How many hours?" "Two hours or fewer."

But one of the few times I'm not sure whether to use 'less' or 'fewer' is when comparing chip stacks at the poker table. Saying "I have fewer chips/big blinds than you" doesn't sound completely right, but what if I use my rule?

"How many chips do you have?" "Just fewer than 50,000."
"How much do you have in chips?" "Just less than 50,000."
"How many big blinds do you have?" "Just fewer than 25."

Is this right? Does my rule have any credibility?

Fewer chips, less money.

Something that grinds my gears is when people refer to "product".

As in -"let's get some product out to that customer."

I hear it so often maybe it's a legitimate use of the word but sure sounds off to me

"Meanwhile, the Eagles head to Detroit looking to even their record at 1-1. And starting at quarterback will be Vick, who last started the final game of the 2006 season for the Falcons against, ironically enough, the Eagles."

This one still drives me nuts every time it's obviously misused. Sometimes you can argue it. Most times people just don't know how to use the word "coincidentally."

...or "interestingly", or "appropriately enough", or any number of other better-suited phrases.

But hey, if you have ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife, well then...that's another story.

Just under 50,000?

Who are 'The co-operative 8' and why should I care that they're ready to eat some poppadums?

i find these quote marks highly suspicious