Thursday, June 28, 2007

Writing rant of the day

"Over" and "more than" are not interchangeable terms. Sadly, too few writers seem to know this.

"Over" refers to a physical relationship (that is, "my hand is OVER the desk") while "more than" refers to a numerical relationship (that is, "I have 18 cookies MORE THAN you have").

2 comments:

Stephen D. Rogers said...

Hey Michael,

I thought I was going to have to rewrite my bio until I checked "over" in dictionary.com.

13. in excess of; more than: over a mile; not over five dollars.

Phew.

Kevin R. Tipple said...

And one can be both at the same time--over 300 pounds as well as more than 300 pounds.

I'm also over 45 and more than 45. Gray hair comes from kids.