Further vs. Farther

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Well, hello, how are you?

Great. How are you doing?

I’m doing well. This is David calling from Bentonville, Arkansas.

Well, David, welcome to the program. Glad to talk to you. What can we help you with?

Thank you so much. Well, I have an interesting question about the term further or farther, and which one is which for the purposes of whatever you’re doing. I was in the process of writing a report, and I was going to start a sentence that said, to the extent, before so-and-so went any further, the meeting was canceled, as an example. And somebody read it and said, no, that should be before he went any farther. I said, well, no, it should be when any further. So we really could not find an authoritative source to answer our question as to which word is more appropriate in that situation. And so I said, the only authoritative source I know is your show.

Yes. Well, before we go any further, that’s how I would say it. Is that how you would say it? Further? That’s how you did say it.

I think that’s how I did say it. I was challenged. And of course, I didn’t have anything to back myself up. So further with the U is what you would use.

That’s what I would. Yeah, David, unless you were having this meeting on a train.

Oh.

Before we go any farther down the road.

The Ozark Express.

Yeah, yeah.

I mean, generally, further is going to refer to more abstract kinds of things. And farther, more and more in this country is becoming specifically for distance. It’s definitely that way in Britain now.

But, yeah, I think further was correct in that case.

Yeah, I think you had the right decision. And there are a couple of reference books that will back you up. Two of the biggies that we talk about, Brian Garner’s Modern American Usage and the Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of English Usage. These basically represent two ends of the style spectrum. And so conservative or liberal, not in a political sense, but either one of those will support your case. They’re good to have on your desk anyway.

Well, that’s great. Thank you.

So maybe can I say that for the purposes of remembering this rule, can I simply notice that farther starts with the word far, and that would be anything where you’re talking about a physical distance. And further is fur, which has nothing to do with anything, but it’s abstract.

Yeah, fur. It’s a little bit more fuzzy, isn’t it?

I never thought of that until you said that, but that’s a great way to remember it.

Thank you, David.

Well, thank you both, and I appreciate the authoritative decision.

Right. I don’t think we need any further discussion, right?

Thank you so much.

Thanks, David.

Thank you.

Bye-bye.

Bye-bye.

Without further ado, that number is 877-929-9673, or you can send an email to words@waywordradio.org.