The meaning is clear.

[Benjamin Barrett]

I would have marked "many" incorrect and "much" correct in that sense as an adverb that intensifies the meaning of "fewer."

But then again, I have trouble keeping "fewer" and "less" straight (and I don't really care anyway)....

Benjamin Barrett
Seattle, WA

On Jan 24, 2012, at 12:07 AM, Wilson Gray wrote:

> "… has 500,000 employees in China and (obviously) _much fewer_ in the
> United States."
>
> There's no reason to bother to distinguish between _much_ and _many_.
>
> Or was his intent to write,
>
> "… _many less_ …"?
>
> About which there can be no argument, of course, the distinction
> between _fewer_ and _less_ being obsolete.

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