On the demise of a special three letter word

I have to confess that I am occasionally a stickler about language. My eye stops cold at the sight of a possessive its with an apostrophe inserted. Years of conditioning can't be undone with a flick or two of the pen. However, I could imagine that usage could make "it's" correct in the future, and I would not feel an immense sense of loss. Language that does matter to me is also at risk. I have been grumbling for at least a brace of years over the creeping frequency with which "less" has become an acceptable descriptor in regard to number as well as in regard to volume. News anchors, comedians, and even academics increasingly use less to say few. Or to put it another way there are fewer uses of few and more uses of less. Why does this make a difference? Consider the Marine slogan. Is it missing something if you say "The less, the proud, the Marines?" Absolutely! Less is the opposite of more not of many! Less means that some quality or volume is lacking and so it is unapt when used to describe the Marines. Flipped the other way, the title "Children of a Lesser God" would make no sense as "Children of a Fewer God". I am mystified as to why this shift in usage is happening. Each word is a single syllable. Neither is difficult to spell or pronounce. Ah well, I may have to resign myself to fewer and fewer sentences containing the word few. And I will be less content at the grinding away of a small nuance in our language. With much nuance, English is enriched. As the wit might say, "Many are culled; few are chosen."