a maximum of + [number] + "noun"

[Ume]

http://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/maximum_2
He faces a maximum of seven years in prison.

http://www.fipp.com/Events.aspx?PageIndex=6050
The Research Forum is limited to a maximum 50 delegates.
The Research Forum is limited to a maximum 50 of delegates, all of whom are able to openly discuss issues concerning their market or a particular sector.

Should a maximum 50 delegates and a maximum 50 of delegates be "a maximum of 50 delegates"?

Moderators:
I wonder if this post should be moved to the thread titled "the maximum of ... times."
​

 

[Thomas Tompion]

[...]Should a maximum 50 delegates and a maximum 50 of delegates be "a maximum of 50 delegates"?

There are circumstances where a maximum 50 delegates can be correct, I think.

The most obvious one is where the maximum has been explained earlier. Here is an example:

His idea of an electric vehicle coupled with stations where their batteries could be recharged after going a maximum hundred miles, is basically sound.

Nevertheless, often a maximum of is preferable.

I don't think a maximum 50 of delegates is often correct, though it's the sort of shorthand you see used by clumsy writers.

 

[Eigenfunction]

"…a maximum 50 of delegates" is wrong, most likely a typo.
"…a maximum of 50 delegates" is correct
"…a maximum 50 delegates" might be rejected by some strict grammarians, but is certainly OK in most contexts and quite commonly used.

 

[Thomas Tompion]

I was more hesitant than Eigenfunction to condemn a maximum 50 of delegates, because people do say things like this:

There are up to 17 crew on each yacht, led by a professional skipper, with a maximum ten of the crew taking part in the entire race, and the remainder signing up for one or more of the legs.

 

[Eigenfunction]

I was more hesitant than Eigenfunction to condemn a maximum 50 of delegates, because people do say things like this:

There are up to 17 crew on each yacht, led by a professional skipper, with a maximum ten of the crew taking part in the entire race, and the remainder signing up for one or more of the legs.

True. However in the case of the delegates, it sounds very odd unless you change it to, "a maximum 50 of the delegates". I can't think of an example that works in this way without an article.

 

[Thomas Tompion]

I don't like it much either, but the people who use it don't seem to mind using it with plurals as well as collective nouns:

Putting the maximum five of the relevant keywords into the tool, we can quickly see the difference in search volume between them.

 

[Eigenfunction]

Eurgh! That's a pretty foul piece of business/media/marketing/programming babble you've dredged up there! It is not only ugly but unclear as well. I would probably assume that it is meant to mean, "Putting a maximum of five of the relevant keywords…", but the way it is written, the phrase, "the maximum five", although meaningless, appears to stick together. While usage ultimately dictates what is and isn't correct English, I would argue that articles like this one are a poor example of English. For the sake of clarity, I would certainly not advise anyone learning English to follow such usage. (Ironically, the author of the article has a BA in english apparently!)