Discussion Forum—A Way with Words, a fun radio show and podcast about language

Hi Susan, and welcome to the forum.

I missed the episode you referred to, but here’s Grant’s & Martha’s take on “further” vs. “farther” as recorded back in 2010:

https://waywordradio.org/further-vs-farther/

So is Martha contradicting her earlier advice? Or did she just misspeak, as you suggest. You’d have to ask her. There’s two things you should know … first, not all sources agree on the distinction between the two, though “farther” is used more often when relating to physical distance. See these comments by Grammar Girl:

http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/further-versus-farther

The second thing you should know is that Grant & Martha (and I believe the majority of forum members here) are descriptivists, so you shouldn’t be surprised if what we advise now differs from what we said 5 years ago. We delight in the evolution of language, and that’s what drives most of our discussion threads. It should be fun for you, as a new member, to take a look at the discussion archives. Enjoy.