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Friday, April 29, 2016

Linguistic Haiku I - Amount, Number


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Linguistic Haiku I

If you could count,  don't
say "amount" lest the linguist
shout cuss-words  at you.

Say "number" instead
using  "fewer" and "greater"
not "less" and not  "more"
       ___________

1) A large amount (number) of people attended the convention
2) There is a large (amount) of water in Lake Superior and a gigantic (number) of large and small rocks on its shores some of which contain a huge (amount) of fine sand.
3) The amount (number) of flowers in the garden is mind-blowing!
4) I wanted  to find a park with less (fewer) people so I could enjoy a quiet picnic.
5) My high-energy friend wanted to find a park with more (a greater number of) people to have  a high-energy picnic.
5) We wanted to relax driving to and from the park so we traveled on side streets having less  (fewer) cars and much (less) traffic.
6) The player's amount (number) of home runs was up this year.
7) There was (less) flu this winter as indicated by the smaller amount (number) of hospital admissions.
8) There were less (fewer) actors than usual auditioning for the musical.
9) The bank vault contained a large (amount) of money including an unspecified amount (number) of $100 bills.
10) The car maker claimed higher mileage results due to a greater amount (number) of engine and computer software improvements.
11) The amount (number) of mosquitoes at night is worse at twilight.
12) The amount (number) of verses in her poem filled three pages in the bound volume.
13) The movie contained a significant amount (number) of thought-provoking ideas.
14) There were more (a greater number of) tomatoes on the vine this year than last.
15) There were less (fewer) tomatoes on the vine this year than last.