[mea] Re: each other / one another
- From: "Marilyn Morton" <mortzim@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <mea@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 13 May 2002 19:47:49 -0500
Hi, Bev.
This is admittedly a very picky point, one that's not going to make or break a
document. I'd been editing for a long time before I came across the rule.
Judging by the number of authors who don't follow it, I'd guess that many of
them have never heard of it; or, if they have, they've decided it's too
unimportant to worry about. Of my three Canadian dictionaries, the Gage
Canadian is the only one that makes a point of distinguishing between "each
other" and "one another," and even it says the two are interchangeable in
informal English. The Canadian Oxford and Nelson Canadian don't really
differentiate between the two terms.
Since coming across the rule, I've tended to follow it when working with a
formal document but to be lax about it in informal documents. I've sometimes
wondered, though, "Am I being too rigid when I change a text to conform to this
rule?" or "Am I being too sloppy if I don't follow it? Will readers think the
usage is incorrect?" That's why I was curious to know whether other editors
concern themselves with it.
Marilyn
> Marilyn,
>
> I've been editing for over a decade and I've never even considered this
> point. Is this really a common concern?
>
> Regards,
> Bev
Other related posts:
