fewer no less

[RobMasters]

"He had managed to condense the entire saga into fewer than 500 words, no less."

Please comment.

[SoothingDave]

It's redundant. Stop the sentence after "words."

[TheParser]

[QUOTE=RobMasters;840097]

Please comment.


NOT A TEACHER


(1) Personally, I like it.

(2) It means (to me) something like:

He had managed to condense the entire saga into fewer than 500 words,

believe it or not. / even though it's hard to believe./ I'm telling the

truth about his accomplishment./ Wow!

[RobMasters]

It's redundant. Stop the sentence after "words."

Not so. The thrust is that this is an exceptional accomplishment, as conveyed the the hugely-necessary non-redundant emphasis of "no less", without which the entire meaning would be lost.

[RobMasters]

[QUOTE=TheParser;840100]

Please comment.


NOT A TEACHER


(1) Personally, I like it.

(2) It means (to me) something like:

He had managed to condense the entire saga into fewer than 500 words,

believe it or not. / even though it's hard to believe./ I'm telling the

truth about his accomplishment./ Wow!

Quite so, my boy.

[SoothingDave]

Not so. The thrust is that this is an exceptional accomplishment, as conveyed the the hugely-necessary non-redundant emphasis of "no less", without which the entire meaning would be lost.

Well, OK then. I didn't notice that you were a native speaker when I critiqued your work.

I would say "He had managed to condense the entire saga into 500 words, no less" if the point was to emphasize the feat.

[5jj]

Not so. The thrust is that this is an exceptional accomplishment, as conveyed by/through the the hugely-necessary non-redundant emphasis of "no less", without which the entire meaning would be lost.

If this was in your mind when you created the sentence, why did you ask us to comment?

[RobMasters]

If this was in your mind when you created the sentence, why did you ask us to comment?

Why do you assume I created it? I read this in a novel today it made me do a double-take. It just felt wrong somehow - it didn't flow and brought me (the reader) to a halt until I realised the import. I wondered how others would perceive it.

[Barb_D]

The problem with the sentence is that while "no less!" can be used to highlight an accomplishment, placing it directly after a numeral makes the reader feel that it relates to that number, not the task itself.

[SoothingDave]

The problem with the sentence is that while "no less!" can be used to highlight an accomplishment, placing it directly after a numeral makes the reader feel that it relates to that number, not the task itself.

Yes, that's it! To make logical/mathematical sense, it should say "500, no more."