# Ok, so, you know the "20 items or less" line at Wal-Mart? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 1, 2005, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-you-know-the-20-items-or-less-line-at-wal-mart/310627 "2005-07-01T02:21:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2005, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-you-know-the-20-items-or-less-line-at-wal-mart/310627/21 "2005-07-01T17:50:41Z")
I’m sorry Madam, we cannot ring up your purchases. The camera dept doesn’t have a scale to weigh your bananas, grapes and oranges. :wally ---
**Author:** ![The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Asbestos_Mango)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2005, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-you-know-the-20-items-or-less-line-at-wal-mart/310627/22 "2005-07-01T18:46:57Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > Yes, but you’re being considerate and thinking of the effects that your actions have on others. You’re not likely to cause the kind of trouble we’re ranting about here. Oh, yes, the people who actually are kind enough to keep their flavors separate and neatly stacked and easily counted. So few, so far between… No, the Gatorade was just tossed into the cart in a mass jumble. To make things even more exciting, it wasn’t horrible busy that night, and it would have actually been faster for the customer to go stand in line behind two or three other people in one of the regular lanes than to push his cart back and forth between the express lanes and insist that the cashiers ring up his cartload. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2005, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-you-know-the-20-items-or-less-line-at-wal-mart/310627/23 "2005-07-02T04:34:23Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I suppose. But, to be honest, I prefer the “or less” construction. The “or fewer” construction sounds stilted and needlessly pedantic to my ears. Obviously, this is because I’ve been exposed to “8 items or less” type signs for my entire life. > > Also, per [dictionary.com](http://dictionary.com): > Quote: > Usage Note: The traditional rule holds that fewer should be used for things that can be counted (fewer than four players), while less should be used with mass terms for things of measurable extent (less paper; less than a gallon of paint). However, less is used in some constructions where fewer would occur if the traditional rule were being followed. Less than can be used before a plural noun that denotes a measure of time, amount, or distance: less than three weeks; less than $400; less than 50 miles. Less is sometimes used with plural nouns in the expressions no less than (as in No less than 30 of his colleagues signed the letter) and or less (as in Give your reasons in 25 words or less). (My emphasis.) [/QUOTE] Hmm, interesting. So that usage would actually be correct in that context. Okay, I sit corrected. Go ahead, sign makers of the world - Eight items or less it is! ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2005, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-you-know-the-20-items-or-less-line-at-wal-mart/310627/24 "2005-07-02T05:12:35Z")
Yet another reason “Justifiable Homicide” is a valid defense. (in regard to the concept of asshats, not any responses thus far) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2005, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-you-know-the-20-items-or-less-line-at-wal-mart/310627/25 "2005-07-02T06:39:32Z")
I just wanted to add Wegmans in Rochester to the list of stores with "7 items or fewer, " due to the pestering of my old grammar professor. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2005, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-you-know-the-20-items-or-less-line-at-wal-mart/310627/26 "2005-07-02T07:06:23Z")
…who would point out that the sentence as it is written indicates that he pestered me into posting the last comment. In fact, he wrote letters to the grocery stores for years asking them to change their signs. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-you-know-the-20-items-or-less-line-at-wal-mart/310627.md?page=1)