disclaimer inclusiveness

[Baker, John]

I would say that "with few side effects" is more informative than "with a few side effects."  If I hear "with a few side effects," I don't really feel comfortable that I have a good sense of how many side effects there are or how frequently they occur.  If I hear "with few side effects," I'm being told that, although there potentially are side effects, they manifest in only a small proportion of cases.

Potential side effects often include death.  If the medication is to reduce cold symptoms - a mild disorder for which there are many alternative treatments - then that side effect is a big deal.  If the medication is to treat an otherwise incurable cancer, then the risk of death may be entirely acceptable.


John Baker



-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of Jonathan Lighter
Sent: Thursday, November 17, 2011 8:49 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: disclaimer inclusiveness

Agree.

So what if one of the few side effects may be "death," as is
occasionally the case? Ask your doctor about it!

JL

On Thu, Nov 17, 2011 at 8:29 AM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> Subject:      Re: disclaimer inclusiveness
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> At 11/16/2011 09:52 PM, Neal Whitman wrote:
>>I also find it strange in those commercials when they say "X is
>>associated with few [not "a few"] side effects, including ..."
>
> Here I suspect "with few side effects" is intended to sound like
> fewer than "with a few side effects".  Something with "a few side
> effects" sounds dangerous.
>
> Joel

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org