At my college many of our students take their exams using a word processor. To protect themselves from the computer freezing or power cuts, which might make them lose their work, they are encouraged by me to save their work many times during the course of their exams. One of the ways I do this is by writing the following words on the whiteboard in front of them: Save lots.
It has recently been changed by somebody objecting to poor grammar to: Save often.
I don't think I'm wrong; what does everybody else think.
For those of us in the U.S., "often" sounds less awkward, I think. However, "lots" may be used to mean "often" in the U.K.? It is defined as an adverb to mean "often," so I think you are right.
1839 F. Trollope in New Monthly Mag. Dec. 486 ‘But tell me, dearest, for pity's sake tell me, did he ever speak of me?’ ‘Lots. He asked more questions, I promise you, than we could answer.’
I've been thinking about this question. I think of "lots" to mean quantity - a lot. So - if I were to see a sign saying "Save lots," I would say to myself, "Save lots of what?"
A local big box store's slogan is, "Save big money at Menard's." If one saves big money, it's counterfeit. Also, how does one "save' by spending? The advertisers have the public nearly totally fooled.
Oh, believe me, I get that slogan, Geoff. That may be "female talk." I keep reminding myself of how much money I saved when I bought a lot at Nordstrom's half yearly sale.
