I have to say I'm with you - each bag is one item. If she had three bags of loose greenbeans, each bean wouldn't be an item. (Or maybe it would...if so, I don't want to shop at your store. :) )

I'm kind of impressed that the cashier would call someone on being over the limit--though I agree, each bag counts as one item. Not too long ago, I was in the 10 items or fewer line and the guy ahead of me had 24 items. Yes, I counted them. I was in a hurry and furious. When the chap left I posited that he exceeded the legal limit. The cashier just kind of shrugged.

A six pack is one item right? I would say a dozen ears of corn counts as 1. You punch it in to the computer once.

I'm with the 1 dozen ears of corn is one item crowd, but then in the part of the Midwest I grew up in, you bought a dozen ears at a time. (Why would you want less than 12?) Though I have to admit the last time I went home I did see "half-dozen" bags available.

And Robbo, we live in the digital age where no one thinks along those lines. I suppose you were upset because everyone thought the 20th Century ended with the end of 1999 as well.

The language - in the hands of government schools - is dead. Go to just about any fast-food restaurant and order a "small fry." You will be told something like, "I'm sorry, but 'medium' is the smallest size we have." Compared to that, less or fewer seems almost benign.