Here’s another installment of Word Knots, where we discuss common instances of words and phrases that are often confused or misused. In this installment and the next we’ll look at two words that are often thought to be interchangeable, but that do in fact have different meanings. 

Our source for this installment is The Dictionary of Disagreeable English by Robert Hartwell Fiske (Chicago: Writer’s Digest Books). This is a great book to browse: I highly recommend it.

We avoid taking a stern ‘grammar police’ approach: we always try to simply point out examples of semantic confusion that should be considered “must to avoid.”

From Fiske:

farther

Misused for further.

As Fiske says (excerpted):

Farther refers to physical distance; further refers to extent or degree. 

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This error is extremely common and usually occurs due to an unawareness of what these two words actually mean.

Let’s look at the most relevant Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary definitions:

farther

adverb

1 a  : to a greater distance in space : to a more remote place

adjective

1 a  : more distant in space : remoter

further

adjective

2 : going or extending beyond what exists

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This is another case where M-W’s definition is a bit misleading. They go so far as to list further as a synonym of farther, which it clearly is not. This relates more to what people have come to think each of these words mean. I stand firmly with Fiske:  I recommend only using farther with physical distance.

AI will very likely be useless with this one, since AI doesn’t understand context or comprehend what you’re trying to say.

Let’s look at examples of each.

The house at the other side of the lake was farther away than we had thought.

My wife decided to go further than I did during the hike and swam to the other side.

The second of these two examples might be a bit confusing unless we take into account what’s being discussed: going “further” in this context refers to going to a greater extent and has nothing to do with distance.

Here’s another example:

When I was writing the report I decided to go further than I had planned and included additional details.

Here we’re referring to extent (and again, not distance).

These differences are indeed subtle, but being precise with language will separate your work from the pack.

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