anonymous1 wrote:pedalling_faster wrote:grammar, people, grammar.
"Fewer than 50 years", not "less than 50 years"
http://englishplus.com/grammar/00000214.htm"Use fewer with objects that can be counted one-by-one.
Use less with qualities or quantities that cannot be individually counted."
i didn't know HSBC was in the geology/ oil business. i thought they were in the incompetent, fraud-ridden bank business. but i suppose they do have economists who make forecasts.
you can try this handy resource
grammica grammar check
Look. Seriously, as someone with a college education in computer science who winces when people use the wrong words and can't construct a proper sentence, much less a decent paragraph, at SOME point, getting the point across in a comprehensible way on an internet comment SHOULD supercede "proper grammar", when 90% of people wouldn't know the formal grammar rules with an "ordinary" education, IMO.
Look at how poor the articles are re things like grammar, coming out of supposedly "professional" papers like the NYT and the WSJ, much less the average internet discussion thread from an article on subject X on the generally decent internet website.
Seriously, at SOME point, we need to focus on the CONTENT, as long as the comment is reasonably comprehensible to, say, 90% of likely readers where X is their primary language.
As always, IMO, from a layman vs. a linguist or an English major.
Given the track record of the perma-doomer blogs, I wouldn't bet a fast crash doomer's money on their predictions.