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Pastimes : SI Grammar and Spelling Lab

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To: Brian P. who wrote (2173)	3/17/1999 1:57:00 PM
From: E	Read Replies (1) of 4711

'farther' denotes distance; 'further' denotes degree. It can be a little confusing, because sometimes you might want to convey something like a degree of distance! But... for the most part, that's the rule. You would say, "I'm not going to carry this argument any further," and "I'm not going to carry this bucket any farther." The confusion could be this: If I say "I'm not going to carry this argument any further," I mean something like I'm not going to escalate its degree of complexity or hostility, or something along those lines. But it could be argued that the idea of 'carrying' an argument is a distance metaphor, ie that you mean "I'm not going to carry this argument like a bucket any farther down this road," and so that's why you might choose the distance-word, 'farther.' The one who says it gets to determine whether they mean distance or degree; but around here, you'd better be able to defend a metaphorical use! Did I explain that clearly? If not, I'll give it another shot. Basically, though it's farther = distance further = degree

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