[Ads-l] "GOP lurches _FARTHER_ to the right!"

[Barretts Mail]

I’ve never been cognizant of the difference and have decided it’s not worth worrying about.

Here’s what Wiktionary (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/farther) says:

— 
Some usage guides distinguish farther and further, with farther referring to distance, and further referring to degree or time.[2] Others, such as the OED, recommend farther as a comparative form of far and further for use when it is not comparative.[3]

However, most authorities consider the two interchangeable in most or all circumstances,[4] and historically they have not been distinguished.[1][2]
— 

Even if you want to use modern rules such as the first set, which should you use in the case of vowels? Are [e] and [o] farther (more distant) or further (more different in quality) than [e] and [i]? I guess you could exploit the first arcane differentiation between farther and further, with the result that pretty much nobody would get the distinction.

Benjamin Barrett
Formerly of Seattle, WA

> On 30 Sep 2017, at 15:11, Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> 
> It’s not very often that you see or hear _farther_ used where it should be
> used, anymore. It’s almost as though _farther_, like _lie, lay, lain_, has
> been erased from the language. I’m not much concerned with the politics
> behind that sentence.
> 
> On Sat, Sep 30, 2017 at 1:24 AM Dave Hause <dwhause at cablemo.net> wrote:
> 
>> Maybe it only SEEMS that way because the Dems are lurching further to the
>> left.
>> Dave Hause
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Wilson Gray
>> Sent: Friday, September 29, 2017 8:25 PM
>> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>> Subject: "GOP lurches _FARTHER_ to the right!"
>> 
>> Shouldn’t that read:
>> 
>> ''GOP lurches _further_ to the right!''? 🤡

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