"Weird Al" Yankovic - grammar lesson

[krunch87]

Al, you are my hero!

[byray]

Is that the Ralph's grocery on the corner of Doheny & Beverly Blvd?!?

[webkinzlover4life404]

Pppppffffffhahahahahahahahahah­agahahahahahahahahahahahahahat­eteteyetetete

[dorgrim]

weird al, your the funnyest guy. me and you should hang out some time. my gramer with you're gramer can has a blast at the park slide?

[yoyoguy1213]

61 people go through the express lane with 15 items or more.

[KingOfKatamari]

@yoyoguy1213 *16 items or more, because 15 is acceptable.

[totoro1591]

I too cannot stand that error! WAY TO GO AL!!! :)

[Demithegoddess]

You guys, it's funny. Stop being jerks. And besides if you haven't noticed, our country is dumbing things down thus making us all dumber. Yay to Weird Al for trying to fix it. One guy CAN make a difference!

[Zoasterboy]

ugh

[derekhunter37]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

[andrew12320091]

Imgur brought me here :D

[TehRattlesnake]

Wadsworth.

[skinnyshit8888]

Al, you got my subscription off this one video. it's a new record!

[harpo103]

No wonder why he was his class Valedictorian!

[rossjames120]

wowowowoo

[codyownz2]

Like a grammatically correct boss!

[junerey6680]

Wow! This is so real! I thought this mistake is only apparent here in the Philippines, not in the US. BIG lol :D

[Zombiesavage100]

Item 15 or less.

Change items 15 or fewer

and no one didn't see him change it.

[MillionthUsername]

It's about countable vs uncountable nouns that you are describing. Fewer refers to countable things, as in "items" at a grocery store, while less refers to uncountable things that normally have no given quantity.

[howe92]

@MillionthUsername like water!

[arbitterm]

Interestingly, all the Safeways where I live have changed their signs. Keep it up Al, you're making a difference!

[dan2kxyz]

Hahaha yes!!!

[clutch26]

First line of Weird Al's song "Midnight Star" is "I was waiting in the express lane with my twelve items or less" Just sayin...

[Aghaene]

@clutch26 That was his point in the song. It's supposed to sound ridiculous. >_>

[aoihopewind]

@clutch26 In that case he's being ironic, quoting the sign.

[R3Dpill33]

Use fewer if you’re referring to people or things in the plural (houses, newspapers, students, children). For Example:

People today are buying fewer newspapers.

Use less when you’re referring to something that can’t be counted or doesn’t have a plural (money, air, time, music). For Example:

It’s a better job but they pay you less money.

Less is also used with numbers when they are on their own and with expressions of measurement or time, eg:

His weight fell from 18 lbs to less than 12.

[muffinhufferJH]

LOfreakingL

[pleappleappleap]

This is one of my pet peeves.

[LyndaHudson]

My sister gets really annoyed when people say 'less' instead of 'fewer'.

[benos]

You all got trolled by Al, guys. He put into a grammar war.

[keatsfoxlore7]

"NOT AMMUSED" .....clearly. Because it's spelled amused.

[metaltim]

@tiyenin.. so according to you I would say 'I should have paid you fewer than fifteen dollars.' or ' man i wish my commute was fewer than 30 minutes?'

that don't sound right.

[everdale]

@metaltim You can fraction a dollar in 5.50 and minutes in 6½ minute and whatnot. Items as such are more discrete; you have 1, 2, 3...15 items. Money is something we have decided that you don't fraction more than to cents though ( if it worked like time and weight and such you could owe me 0.152 cents, but as of now you can't ).

ps. Sorry for my English, I'm Swedish. Smörgåsbord!

[aerosmithbeatles]

NOT AMMUSED!

[youkilledbambi]

I like how the comments are a grammar flame war

[tiyenin]

@youkilledbambi Idiots flame war. I'm clearly explaining Al's point.

[hotelmario510]

Congratulations, Al, Stephen Fry now hates you.

[ShinobiGarth]

less than is for something you cant count numerically like liquid

[BurnlnHell]

now i will never forget the difference. i'll just always remember weird al when taking the SAT

[khanhlehuu]

Damn he looks old in this.

[MattSturg]

i wonder if anyone in the store happened to look over and see fucking al yankovic filming himself correcting a sign and said to themselves, "is that fucking al yankovic?"

[nwinchel]

Amazing....

[TheByronYale]

Stephen Fry has called you a pedant for pursuing such a linguistic witch hunt. What do you have to say about that.

[fachefichekuriza]

PRICELESS

[Mossgate97]

I love how no one knows who he is.

[redwoodmorgan]

Flash Fiction Online is a magazine that bears the tagline "Flash Fiction: a complete story

in one thousand or fewer words." Fewer! :)

[MrUnidyne]

Al, I feel the same way when I pass by a "Drive-Thru" or a "Nite Club".

[PhantomWerewolf]

i wish weird al was my english teacher... than maibee mine english not bad be.

[LADYFINGERS50]

Thanks for setting everyone straight. Anymore, we get so used to using certain words improperly, then soon they're accepted by most. Why is that?

[tiyenin]

@LADYFINGERS50 Prescriptive Grammar vs Descriptive Grammar,

i.e. "Proper" English vs everyday English

For instance, it's why very few people use "whom" anymore: the work just fell out of common usage.

It also why any number of trendy phrases catch on: it serves the population, even if it's not necessarily "proper" English. Case in point, LOL.

[parafraceren]

@SelenaG94 wow, you have been a big help... (NOT) @tiyenin explained it to me. I didn't ask: which one is good, I asked: "why is this good?"

And less is also correct grammar, just not in this context

[Tungzout]

Less means less than 15. I don't get it!

[tiyenin]

@Tungzout See my reply to parafraceren. Like other flukes in English, even native speakers get this wrong a lot because of common (mis)usage. More examples:

"Should of" for "Should've" (phonetic [sound] misinterpretation)

"One of the only" for "One of the few" ("One of the only" is redundant; if you are a subset of "only," which means "solitary, singular," then you are simply "the only")

"Could care less" for "Couldn't care less"; if you COULD care less, then you currently care at least a little

[Tungzout]

@tiyenin

But less is short for less than 15. If you have 15 items and you take away one, you have less than 15 items.

[tiyenin]

@Tungzout No, you have FEWER than 15 items. "Less than #" is technically wrong no matter how you use it. It's used a lot, but as Weird Al points out, it's used incorrectly. Less implies mass or cumulative amount. Fewer implies whole, countable objects or measurements.

Correct: Less water, less distance, fewer than five apples, 15 items or fewer (than 15 items).

INCORRECT: Fewer water, fewer distance, less than five apples, 15 items or less (than 15 items).

[vleidrums]

@tiyenin So how do you say 5 < 9, mathematically speaking? Are all my math teachers wrong? Five is fewer than nine, but not less than?

[tiyenin]

@vleidrums I'll try to make this simple:

It's (correctly) said "Five is less than nine" because the objects being compared are, AGAIN, cumulative or mass amounts.

It's pretty simple to prove this: Check the verb. "IS" means singularity or mass amount, "ARE" indicates plurality. Is it, "Five are less than nine"? No. Ergo, "Five" is a singular mass amount.

[compare: five cats ARE < nine cats]

Cumulative or mass amounts -- water, numeric value -- are compared with "less/more", not "fewer/greater".

[tiyenin]

@vleidrums Ran out of room. The comparative plural sentence should've read:

"Five cats are fewer than nine cats."

[keatsfoxlore7]

@tiyenin Soooooooo less for liquids and time, fewer for solids? All right! :D That's interesting.

[tiyenin]

@keatsfoxlore7 Not quite, because you CAN have fewer minutes, but ALSO less time. Less water (in a bucket), fewer waters (in bottles). It all boils down to whether the item is plural or not. I'm busy right now and don't have time to make sure this is 100% correct, but generally a simple way to check is whether the item is plural or singular.

Plural (items, minutes, rounds): "FEWER"

Singular (time, sand, muscle mass): "LESS"

[wra7h]

@tiyenin forever alone

[tiyenin]

@wra7h 4 years and counting with my girlfriend, thanks! How's romance looking on your end, loser?

[quickbeeare]

@tiyenin My God LOL

[wra7h]

@tiyenin She must find you correcting her all the time, sexy.

[tiyenin]

@wra7h No need for a comma, and kinda poorly worded. Try: "She must find your constant correcting of her mistakes sexy."

By the way, nice deflection of my question on your love life. Sounds like SOMEbody's projecting his shortcomings on strangers, Cameron...

[wra7h]

@tiyenin Sounds like u mad.

[wealthyreltub]

@tiyenin or perhaps the "sexy" was in direct address? ...oh now it's creepy.

[teniguafez]

@tiyenin Less "implies" nothing but a lower quantity, regarldess of mass or number or whatnot. I never use the word "fewer" because I enjoy having friends. It only "implies" that to people who cannot accept language change or meaning drift. In other words, the exact same things that made English the language it is today, so unless you'd rather "sprecan Englisc" I'd suggest you'd shut up.

[tiyenin]

@teniguafez 'Not accepting language change.' Is that higher or lower than 'Insulting strangers via YouTube' on the douchery scale?

[parafraceren]

I'm NOT a native speaker, so I would like to know: why is less wrong?

[tiyenin]

@parafraceren

Less implies mass or cumulative amount: "Less Water," "Less Distance."

Fewer implies whole, countable objects or measurements: "Fewer Apples," "Fewer Centimeters."

Since this is a grocery store, and the sign is referencing countable grocery items, then "15 or fewer" is correct.

[parafraceren]

@tiyenin thank you

[SMGrawks]

He walks around like a real person in real places!? That's crazy. If I saw him in real life I'd crap my pants

[parafraceren]

@SMGrawks WHAT!? YOU SRS???? I thought he always sits in his room making parodies !?

[PunchSydeiron]

58 persons ain't got the learnin' to do grammar good.

[thorman360]

@PunchSydeiron al is gonna hunt yall down and kill you

[MsTheCommentator]

THANK YOU! That has bugged me for years!

[coco927]

I LOVE this video! I am always being ridiculed for correcting grammar. My friends and family tell me to "get over it." I tell them I am trying to help them to not look/sound like idiots in public lol...

[NinjaRedLink]

This makes me want to make a bunch of tiny little "Fewer" signs and post them in groceries all around my community...does anyone else feel similar?

[blazegamer]

@r3gr3ssor Now, normally I don't encourage these "thumbs up if you're willing to give me attention!" comnents, but yes, that makes my inner grammar nazi rage.

[TheCeejReturns]

I have always wanted to do this. Damn you, Al, for doing it first!

[Ferretywrath]

I do stuff like this all the time at stores. XD Also, once, at an Ivy League school. Still not sure how they misspelled a word in the cafeteria menu... XD

[TheMrSONIC4]

I isn't aint not no nothin!

[dippitydoo]

58 people don't know "your" from "you're."

[GeneralKenobiSIYE]

@dippitydoo That pisses me off!! I hate when they do that!!

[Emancus09]

HOLY SHIT!!! tht looks like the grocery store near my house lol!

[omegaabnormal]

@bombthedodongo -- The village idiots. They're everywhere.

[omegaabnormal]

@mpf1947 -- Can I get an "amen"?

The "donut" shops need one too, while we're at it!

[TheValerievalentina]

Hahahaha!!!

[AWSOMEPOSSUM16]

I can't stop LAUGHING.

[keatsfoxlore7]

Al speak English real goodly. XD Thank you, Al! This made my day. Usually I'm the grammar nazi who's ridiculed for having proper education.

[HarperSanchez]

If I saw Al in a supermarket I don't know what I'd do.

[freakman707]

@HarperSanchez "I dont know whether to kiss you or kill you." hahahha

[parafraceren]

@tiyenin he'll never answer you

[KCFels]

This is amazingly awesome. As a copy editor, this makes my day.

[xeddier]

Epic use of magnets!

[joshcentilla]

@sheesheesh I'm just going to leave him alone he's just a troll and that would explain his grammar and spelling.

[caidunit]

what is up with all the stupieds with shit grammer talk on this vid?? go back 2 school kiddies godd..

[Tr1cE]

@sheesheesh lmfao ur an moran

[funnlim]

But everywhere is 8 items or less, 10 items or less, much like cheater has become a valid word, these days these bastardized grammar seems to be accepted everywhere!

[Tr1cE]

@sheesheesh dude that sentense made no sense at all rofl what a stupid idiot

[lordsniperwolf]

LOL

[rachjay4]

You are even more awesome than I thought.

[whistledink]

The Safeway near my house recently got new signs....they now say "15 Items or Fewer"!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'd like to think Al helped this happen.

[elk832]

The workers are probably just thinking "There's Weird Al - doing his thing."

[theawesomestawesomer]

How does he not get chased down by adoring fans?

[thevarmanator]

@theawesomestawesomer he gets them to co-operate like he did in the "weird al shreds" video.

[PchanStitch]

@theawesomestawesomer Most people aren't like paparzzi. Honestly, if I saw a celebrity in my local Target, even if they walked right up to me and asked me where the sea food was, I don't think I would even recognize them since my brain wouldn't be expecting to see them.

[superspanks]

@theawesomestawesomer Where he lives most people are used to him being around. He does live there after all.

[gigianna98]

@theawesomestawesomer he doesn't get chased around by adoring fans because people are very respectful of him and the family. he seems 2 b the best dad/husband ever! he is so protective and careful that pictures of Nina (daughter) or of her face r ever taken by paparazzi or leaked online!

[8BitMonk3y]

@theawesomestawesomer It's probably just his local grocery store, so people are used to him going there regularly.

[Denamic]

@theawesomestawesomer He's been pushing them off of cliffs.

That keeps them away until they respawn.

[teddezac]

HOLY SHIT I'VE BEEN THERE!

[moody12381]

The store where I work has a '15 items or fewer' sign

[WasAbiRASP]

YES!!! Amazing work Al! Drive slowly and purchase 15 items of fewer! We need a grammatical revolution!

[Tr1cE]

lol he spellt grammer wrong 

[chelseaandroar]

@Tr1cE was that humour or just the most stupid thing a person has said?

[Tr1cE]

@chelseaandroar lmfao ur an moran?

[chelseaandroar]

@Tr1cE No you're an moran :P

[joshcentilla]

@Tr1cE Um... It can be spelled either way and how is "ur an moron?" a grammatically correct sentence? For one it should be "You are a moron." or "You're a moron." Also "spellt" is spelled "spelt" which isn't what you're talking about you are talking about "spelled" so before you correct someone you should make sure you are correct.

[Tr1cE]

@joshcentilla rofl are u some tipe of complete absolut idiot moran dorkwad or what? haha crazyness

[joshcentilla]

@Tr1cE So here is what you said so people can read it "Ha ha ha ha ha! Are you some type of complete, absolute, idiot, moron, dorkwad, or what? Ha ha! Craziness!" Still what it should be is more like this, "Ha ha ha ha ha! Are you some type of idiot, moron, or is there another thing you are? Ha ha! This is crazy!

[Tr1cE]

@joshcentilla rofl that makes no sence in the slightest go read a book on how to learn english and grammer and remember that i *am* intelligence wat a crazy world with fools like u who cant tipe! LOL

[mbrutout]

@Tr1cE actually he spelled grammar right, you spelled it wrong.

[OtherRealmer]

Grammar - it is, in fact, serious business.

[MrJackbob45]

that was awesome but jellloonline u use the nastiest words man

[Timeflare123]

0:07

OMG cheez its

[ibasicallytotalyrule]

keepin it real

[BlossomSunshine]

My mother nags me about the same thing! I'll say "There were a lot less people at the plaza today than usual!" then she'll say "IT'S FEWER, Sheila!"

[memeandme0321]

oh wow

[BklynBruzer]

Al, this is why you're the awesomest awesome that ever awesomed.

[fiftytwodelta]

I laughed til I stopped.

But, it's a serious dificiency in America. Help raise awareness!

[aceofspades02]

LOL!!!!

priceless!!!

[Apocol0id]

See when Weird Al does it, we laugh and call him the man. When other people do it, we hate them.

[Kassie722]

Actually, in this construction, "less" is not syntactically incorrect at all. It's the placement of the word that matters. You have "fewer than 15 items" but "need 15 items or less." Remember in school when you had to write 200 words or less? Your teacher was correct.

[daregularperson]

@Kassie722 The only thing is, you are not funny.

[KingOfKatamari]

@daregularperson Were they trying to be funny?

[2packigot6pack]

@daregularperson Hater Hater

[daregularperson]

@2packigot6pack :P I'm just being silly.

[013108today]

@Kassie722

That's terribly unfunny.

[ZACKWELDERS]

hey Al  will you improving my grammar?

[victormgv]

I still don't understand please explain!!!

[junkietomato]

It would be weird to call him a grammar nazi.

[bpyale]

Stephen Fry has a rebuttal for you. Look up Stephen Fry Kinetic Typography - Language

[okamiazuma]

He who is tired of Weird Al is tired of life, and so far 55 people are tired of life.

[karlr42]

Hmm,

"I was waiting in the express lane with my twelve items or less; at the checkout counter at the local grocery store."

-Weird Al, Midnight Star, In 3-D.

[BansheeBlueLeader]

So very true... What ever happened to decent grammar?

[RagDollSam]

I swear to God!! Every stores I've been going to for a while has had the, "15 items or less" sign to it... then I saw this video and maybe a week later or so I saw them saw "15 items or fewer" and I thought, "Thank you Al, now I don't feel stupid when reading signs." But now it bugs me cause I do it all over the place.

[lukesallama]

who carries around a sticker tht says "fewer" with them?? oy ye weird al

[deej7]

It's funny, but "Drive Slow" is grammatically correct.

[americanwomanFL]

@deej7 How??? The sign is asking people HOW to drive and that is the questions adverbs answer....

[deej7]

@americanwomanFL look up "slow" as an adverb on merriam webster dot com. It has several examples of "slow" and NOT "slowLY" being acceptable as an adverb such as My computer is working slow.

you need to go slow with this experiment, or you'll make mistakes>

[andbruno]

Where can we buy these correction boards? I must have some!

[NeedlesSTKane]

LMAO man, I've loved Weird Al since I was a kid. I'd love to hang with him sometime. Al if you're reading this, YOU'RE AMAZING!

[Tagahahu]

55 ppl aint got no grammer

[thedoughnutprincess]

Wow, no offence al, you got old!

[Everfalling]

@thedoughnutprincess time'll do that to ya.

[americanwomanFL]

@thedoughnutprincess As will YOU one day.... ;-)

[Tagahahu]

I be the teacher of that there grammer school!

[foggerman1234]

Fewer: Referring to a number of items or persons.

Less: Referring to a single amount.

15 items (plural) of fewer (plural) agrees with itself.

[mariotaz]

Ah AH AHHHHHHH HELL YEAH!

[TheBabyZsaZsa]

AWESOME!! I love proper grammar!! You go Weird Al !!!

[121Loopyloo]

55 people didn't learn grammer *dramatic eye role* ;) x

[pnut1221]

@121Loopyloo And it seems you did not learn proper spelling. I believe you meant "grammar" and "eye roll". ;) x

[121Loopyloo]

@pnut1221 Hahaa toucheee ;) x

[rockinkitten]

:D :D :D

I Love You. Just for this alone!

[only1pirate]

*dramatic eyeroll*

mom! mom! can I keep him? pleaseeee!