Grammar Geek vs. Classic Hymn

I know few others who appreciate the subtleties of language and grammar the way I frequently do.  For that reason, this may fly over the heads of some, and simply be generally unappreciated by others.  (But it’s my blog, and I’m the grammar geek, so I’ll say what I want.  So there…bleah!)

The words “less” and “fewer” are frequently misused in American English today.  Typically, the word “less” is colloquially used where the word “fewer” would be more correct.   “Fewer” should be used when referring to quantifiable amounts of something, and “less” to unquantifiable amounts.  For example, less snow but fewer snowflakes.  Less flour yields fewer cookies.  “Ten items or less” in the express lane should always be written “ten items or fewer” (though very few grocery stores get it right).  Less water, fewer glasses of water.  I’m sure you get the picture.

Why am I talking about this?

Though the majority of the hymn “Amazing Grace” was written by John Newton, one stanza that seems to be included commonly as the last stanza was actually written by someone else.  The fact of who wrote that last stanza depends more on who you ask at this point, as it seems to be relatively uncertain.  Thus there’s some ambiguity as to whether the word selection was with full grammatical intention, or whether, for the sake of rhythm, the rules of language were thrown out the window.  Regardless, the way it comes out presents a pretty cool truth that hit me this morning in church.

As we sang those last few lines, the grammar cop in me caught a mistake.  But then the theologian in me realized the import of the words, and their truth rather than their minor error:

When we’ve been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we first begun

As we anticipate unending life in Heaven, it’s difficult for our minds, which have never really beheld anything infinite, to wrap around the concept of eternity.  Everything in our world can be measured and quantified, and all of it is ultimately impermanent.  However, a true eternity to sing God’s praise is such an unimaginably enormous number of days that it’s literally impossible to count them all.  Whether the stanza’s author intended it to be so or not, this truth is subtly presented through use of the word “less” to describe them instead of the word “fewer,” as it’s only in the context of describing eternity that the third line could ever be grammatically correct.

Isn’t that cool?

Grammar geek…out.