Discussion Groups / English Usage / July 2009

Interesting.

I am not a grammarian. I would describe that use as transitive with an
implicit object.

The intransitive senses given by OED are obsolete, slang or dialect. the
non-obsolete are:

   To ejaculate; to have an orgasm. slang.

   Of foodstuffs, wheat, hay, etc.: To turn out or prove in use to be
   of a certain quality; to last or hold out well. Now dial.

   dial. To produce or yield (well).

That's why I said "wants" rather than "needs."  Even if you *meant*
"less" as an adverb, the transitive sense is so much stronger that the
listener wouldn't hear it that way.  You'd have to fill in an object to
make it clear.

"I'm spending my money less on food than on convenience," for instance,
uses "less" as an adverb and says that convenience is the main value
you're concerned with, and nothing about the actual relative costs.  You
might be buying caviar because you happen to be in an import store,
instead of the Cheez Wiz you would have been happy with.  If you tried to
say this as "I'm spending less on food than on convenience," "less" would
be heard as the object instead, and it would pretty strictly imply that
you're paying more than a 100% premium for convenience--five bucks for
that jar of Cheez Wiz in the corner store when you could get it for two
in the supermarket.

¬R  / Darla:  Leftovers aren't the mark of a man. \ www.bestweb.net/~notr
Andrew Reid:  Actually, they are, because that's how men's shirts button.