Further to Julie's observations on the alleged correct use of 'further' vs. 'farther'. It boils down to the apparent _correct correct_ form being "farrer" (qua comparative of 'far'). In a message dated 9/5/2004 8:44:24 PM Eastern Standard Time, JimKandJulieB@xxxxxxx writes: Count the people you know who use "further" vs. "farther" correctly. ---- Interesting. I tried an OED search for the phrase, "further farther", but apparently nobody (as recognised by the OED) ever used that expression -- and why should they. The retrieved item for 'further farther', though, is the etymological note under 'farther', which is interesting in noting that both 'further' and 'farther' come from Old English "fyrther". But you knew that. So it's a Middle English distinction, not an Anglo-Saxon one. 'farther' "From Middle English 'ferther' (whence by normal phonetic development 'fArther') is in origin a mere variant of 'further', due prob. to the analogy of the verb, "to ferthren", from Old English "fyrthrian", 'to further'." "The primary sense of both "further" and "farther" is â??more forward, more onwardâ??" "But this sense is practically coincident with that of the comparative degree of far, where the latter word refers to real or attributed motion in some particular direction." "Hence, both further and farther came to be used as the comparative of far; first in the special application just mentioned, and ultimately in all senses, displacing the regular comparative "farrer."" "In standard English, the form farther is usually preferred where the word is intended to be the comparative of far, while further is used where the notion of far is altogether absent." "There is a large intermediate class of instances in which the choice between the two forms is arbitrary."" -- That is to say, _conventional_. Cheers, JL ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html