# Walmart's opinion of its customers . . . **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 8, 2011, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walmarts-opinion-of-its-customers/592000 "2011-08-08T22:07:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walmarts-opinion-of-its-customers/592000/21 "2011-08-09T13:20:44Z")
Every Walmart I’ve been in has had white and blue signage. ([Example.](http://www.toledoblade.com/Economy/2011/05/05/Walmart-remains-atop-Fortune-500-list.html)) That doesn’t look like a Walmart sign at all. That looks a bit like the Whole Foods decor. (Second [picture](http://blog.zevia.com/2008/10/zevia-end-caps-and-case-stacks-coast-to-coast/) here.) Does this change anyone’s mind about Whole Foods, or about Walmart? ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walmarts-opinion-of-its-customers/592000/22 "2011-08-09T13:52:37Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Does this change anyone’s mind about Whole Foods, or about Walmart? Check the link in **Pandabear77** ’s post… it’s a photoshop. ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walmarts-opinion-of-its-customers/592000/23 "2011-08-09T15:14:04Z")
Having spent more years than I’d care to admit working for Walmart, I can’t say it resembles any of the stores I’ve been in. The lights aren’t correct, and the ceiling seems low. They were slowly remodeling their stores to that tan color, but all the ones I’ve seen still have the old signage for express lanes. Whatever, though. Even if it were acknowledged that it is 'shopped, or from a different store, it’s not particularly funny. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walmarts-opinion-of-its-customers/592000/24 "2011-08-09T15:19:36Z")
Clearly “this many” is three. I’m obviously too dumb for this store. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walmarts-opinion-of-its-customers/592000/25 "2011-08-10T10:54:32Z")
In any event, i’m fairly sure that “Express” is in the font that Safeway uses for its signage. ---
**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:** [August 10, 2011, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walmarts-opinion-of-its-customers/592000/26 "2011-08-10T15:53:26Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > Walmarts around here have signs that say 15 items or _less_. The correct word is _fewer_.\ [Another reason to love Weird Al Yankovic.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uQ_extNBDA) ---
**Author:** ![Serenata67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/serenata67/32/10646_2.png) [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walmarts-opinion-of-its-customers/592000/27 "2011-08-10T16:15:48Z")
This is one of my shopping pet peeves… I hate being behind the person with 30 items on an express lane. Jeez, people. Use the other damned lanes. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walmarts-opinion-of-its-customers/592000/28 "2011-08-10T16:50:22Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > [Another reason to love Weird Al Yankovic.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uQ_extNBDA) This from the man who sang “I was waiting in the express lane with my 12 items or less…” (“Midnight Star”) 😛 ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walmarts-opinion-of-its-customers/592000/29 "2011-08-10T17:36:27Z")
Meh. the other day I was in the grocery stoe with about 20 items in my cart. The express line said 10 items or less. There was no one in the express line, and no one in the offing, and 2-3 people in each of the other lines, so I headed toward the express thinking he might as well be doing something. The checker very snarkily pointed out that his was a 10 items or less line. So I went to one of the other lines, and watched him twiddle his thumbs the entire time it took for me to wait through the line and check out. While I know this is not the norm, it still rankles. ---
**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:** [August 10, 2011, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walmarts-opinion-of-its-customers/592000/30 "2011-08-10T17:47:46Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > This from the man who sang “I was waiting in the express lane with my 12 items or less…” (“Midnight Star”) 😛 Maybe he took so much crap over that that he decided to make it a personal crusade? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walmarts-opinion-of-its-customers/592000/31 "2011-08-10T19:12:52Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > Walmarts around here have signs that say 15 items or _less_. The correct word is _fewer_. > [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > Thank you. You’re my new best friend. It’s a made up rule. There is nothing wrong with using “less” with countable nouns. In fact, [M-W](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/less) implies that with the very first definition: > [@Merriam Webster](#): > > 1: constituting a more limited **number** or amount \ \ And the usage note says “Less has been used to modify plural nouns since the days of King Alfred and the usage, though roundly decried, appears to be increasing.” [American Heritage](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/less) waits til the 6th definition, but still gets around to it succinctly: > [@](#): > > 1. fewer. So quit hyper-correcting! ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Economist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c89c15/32.png) [@Evil\_Economist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Economist)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walmarts-opinion-of-its-customers/592000/32 "2011-08-10T19:22:00Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > Walmarts around here have signs that say 15 items or _less_. The correct word is _fewer_. > > Target has big signs that say menswear- that’s a rash generalization. Not all men swear. > [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > Thank you. You’re my new best friend. According to [Merriam-Webster’s dictionary of English usage](http://books.google.com/books?id=2yJusP0vrdgC&pg=PA592#v=onepage&q&f=false), \*less \*is correct: “The OED shows that less has been used of countables since the time of King Alfred the Great…so essentially \*less \*has been used of countables for just about as long as there has been an English language.” “The result seems to be a fairly large number of people who now believe \*less \*used of countables to be wrong, though its standardness is easily demonstrated.” “Many of you have seen sign in the express lanes at supermarkets saying ‘Twelve items or less’…\*Less \*is the choice in this construction.” ETA: DAMN it, I was scooped! I’m not doing all that typing for nothing, so I’m not deleting my post. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walmarts-opinion-of-its-customers/592000/33 "2011-08-10T19:48:48Z")
So the thread should be “Best Buy’s opinion of its customers”? ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walmarts-opinion-of-its-customers/592000/34 "2011-08-10T20:04:14Z")
BTW, I disagree with **Chessic Sense** and **Evil Economist** here on “less” versus “fewer,” and I think the matter merits its own thread, but I don’t feel like getting into it right now. Unless somebody else does it first, I’ll get that started within the next couple days. Anyone who wants to weigh in on that point, rather than the signage matter here, might wish to just hold that thought for a bit. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walmarts-opinion-of-its-customers/592000.md?page=1)