Do you use the word 'FARTHER' in the UK? Or would you rather say 'FURTHER' instead?

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tinypeninsula@reddit

I could be wrong but i use it like this

Further = additional/more (in any context) Farther = more far away

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wicket42@reddit

This is how I've always used it. Further for something immaterial and farther for something material.

The house is farther down the road.

I will further my evil plans for world domination.

I have no idea if it's actually a rule, but it feels right....

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ksusha_lav@reddit (OP)

Thank you! Would you ever say 'The house is fUrther down the road'?

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AliveAd2219@reddit

When you achieve your plans for world domination you can make it law.

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adbenj@reddit

Further: metaphorical distance Farther: physical distance Father: emotional distance

(Not my joke, please don't upvote.)

I almost never use 'farther' though. 'Further' 4 lyf.

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Circa64Software@reddit

Tough. You'll take this upvote and you will like it!

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chrsphr_@reddit

Hmmm Scottish here but I think I'd use further for both

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TheoryPretend9912@reddit

While hitchhiking in Minnesota the driver told me "that's all the further I'm going to go".

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Short-Shopping3197@reddit

So ‘I walked further so I would be farther away’?

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House_Of_Thoth@reddit

I like it! I can never remember, so I'll try to remember "I need to go further because it's farther away"

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shabba182@reddit

This is technically correct, but I don't know anyone who says farther. We just use further in both scenarios

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Apprehensive-Top3675@reddit

‘Farther’ only refers to physical distance. ‘Further’ has a broader meaning.

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ksusha_lav@reddit (OP)

So both 'further' and 'farther' refer to physical distance and can be used interchangeably in this meaning, right?

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minty_tarsier@reddit

I don't think so. Same is true in the UK.

"Further down the road" "Farther down the road" These both work

"Further to your point" - works "Farther to your point" - doesn't work because it's not about physical distance

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Crazy_Breakfast_6327@reddit

Both; they mean different things! Farther away = distance, Further along = extent/scale

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purquoy@reddit

Farther = physical distance

Further = everything else

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DrachenDad@reddit

Depends on what is being said: is X as far as y? Farther. Anything else it's further for me.

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theinspectorst@reddit

'Further' is acceptable in most contexts.

'Farther' can be used when talking specifically about physical distances (as in 'Bob walked 100 metres farther down the road'), but 'further' is fine to use for physical distance too.

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oxfordfox20@reddit

Agree, farther is a rare word to hear from a Brit…

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Hoop66@reddit

A bit like when you use fewer if the thing can be counted - farther as in "it's two miles farther". Further to this post...

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Adventurous_Way_2660@reddit

Luke we use further. Search your feelings

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LichenTheMood@reddit

The very much mean different things here.

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(Kobol) Helo: How much further? Boomer: Farther. Helo: What? Boomer: Farther describes actual distance. Further is more figurative. Helo: (scoffs) You're a dictionary now? Boomer: I'm sorry I'm smarter than you. Helo: Well, that's okay. The baby can have your brains as long as he gets my looks. Boomer: Yeah? That'd be a real blessing for her.

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spank_monkey_83@reddit

Depends if i'm talking about my dad

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Anonandonanonanon@reddit

They're different words. Farther is the comparative form of Far, so, when making a comparison, A is farther from here than B.

To go further, is to do more, to expand, to elaborate, it doesn't have to refer to physical distance at all, it can be applied to a concept or practice. Technically, it doesn't need any direct object, although you'll probably find that it is always implicit. It can refer to a physical distance but there may be no point of comparison (other than relative to where you are now).

The two words are not interchangable. As a native speaker, I will frequently mix them in error, because we do that.

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Fred776@reddit

Further can be used for all cases. We don't tend to use "farther" in British English.

https://proofed.co.uk/writing-tips/word-choice-farther-vs-further/

https://langblog.englishplus.com/?p=207

https://www.scribbr.co.uk/frequently-confused-words/farther-vs-further/

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/further#English (see Usage Notes)

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Dependent-Panic-9457@reddit

Farther is my dad (with slight irish accent). If it’s my mum I say “mummy”.

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Fred776@reddit

It was one of those things I wasn't sure about what the distinction was, but when I looked it up most authorities said that it's not really used in British English so I have never worried about it since.

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idreaminlowercase@reddit

I say further

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Liverpool_Stu@reddit

It is spelt further, it is the correct word, it's how it is pronounced.

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packthesuitcases@reddit

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/farther-farthest-or-further-furthest

There's no difference in meaning between them in the UK.

I would only ever write 'further' but wouldn't be thrown by reading the alternative spelling.

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pondribertion@reddit

Strichly speaking there is a difference between the two, but I don't care, I always say 'further'. Sue me.

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AuroraDF@reddit

I think in Scotland we only use further. Unless it's regional.

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Dry-Explanation6521@reddit

Either or Either!

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BarnytheBrit@reddit

Both I think depending on where you were bought up

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SantaFe91@reddit

I exclusively use ‘further’. It’s multi-purpose and can legitimately be used in all the various senses. ‘Farther’ can only be used in connection with physical distance. I’ve not actually heard ‘farther’ too often in the academic environment or where I live (south east/London), or at least not for many years, and I think it could possibly be dying out, but I can’t say for sure there are no regional differences.

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OddPerspective9833@reddit

Farther is for distance, further is for other magnitudes

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illarionds@reddit

I only use "further".

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Volley-Boat@reddit

I hear you're racist now Farther

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CosetElement-Ape71@reddit

Use farther for literal, physical distance (measurable) and further for figurative, metaphorical distance (additional or advanced). Think "far" for physical, "further" for "more" or "additional". While often interchangeable, farther generally applies to space, while further applies to time, quantity, or degree.

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LJ161@reddit

When ever i see these questions I suddenly have no memory of how I speak

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stu3y69@reddit

Depends on the context with which we were speaking?

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Azuras-Becky@reddit

We can discuss this further once I'm farther away.

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One_Complex6429@reddit

You'll have shout then

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-FantasticAdventure-@reddit

Close 🐄

Far Away 🐮

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Tank-o-grad@reddit

OK, one last time, these are small but the ones out there are far away

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Seaside83@reddit

Further.

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notintodentify@reddit

Further all the way

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BellendBuilder@reddit

Luke I am your Further!

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benDB9@reddit

No, I am your Further!

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Fridarey@reddit

But I am your Fuhrer

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BellendBuilder@reddit

Farther away I am from You

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Alternative_Bit_7306@reddit

In the Rocky Horror Show it’s always Dr.Frankenfurther rather than Dr.Frankenfarther

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BellendBuilder@reddit

I’ve not seen that for years! I used to love that and Priscilla Queen of the Desert.

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MinimumCut140@reddit

Farther is pretty common in the west country

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Fridarey@reddit

They’re different words for different things - we use both

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Woffingshire@reddit

Further.

Further means more distance, farther means dad

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TehFlatline@reddit

Neither further nor farther mean dad but are both spelled correctly. You're thinking of father.

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Woffingshire@reddit

woosh

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TehFlatline@reddit

How is that a woosh? What do you think I've missed?

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Woffingshire@reddit

The joke

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Dangerous_Hippo_6902@reddit

It’s always spelt further.

As for its pronunciation.. depends where in the UK you are

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TehFlatline@reddit

Unless you're wanting to say farther, in which case that's how it's spelled.

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SoggyWotsits@reddit

I know someone who describes her dad as her farther, but that’s a different story.

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eurocracy67@reddit

In everyday speech probably "farthest" but if I was writing it in an email or letter, I would probably use either.

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Master_Sympathy_754@reddit

Further, but I'm northern and common

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weedywet@reddit

Farther refers to distance.

Further to concepts.

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BillyHenry1690@reddit

They are two different weird with different meanings. Why would you say one when you mean the other?

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Mysterious_Oil2761@reddit

Anything extra is further, anything relating to distance is farther.

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BastardsCryinInnit@reddit

Yes I use it.

To me, it isnt interchangeable with further.

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byjimini@reddit

Ones my dad, the other’s distance.

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elbapo@reddit

My father said he was going for milk but I think he went farther.

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Frequent-Frosting336@reddit

I just say dad.

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Scarred_fish@reddit

Those are different words, they don't mean the same thing so they can't be interchangeable.

If you say further when you should be paying farther, you're just wrong!

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Sea_Pomegranate8229@reddit

It would depend on whether I was going further or farther.

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RegularWhiteShark@reddit

Depends on the context.

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BaddyWrongLegs@reddit

It's dialectal both regionally and generationally. Prescriptivistically, farther is a comparitive about distance and further is a verb about progressing, but increasingly further is used for farther (but farther isn't used for further, further is getting less common in its original context). Language evolves; some languages tried to take a prescriptivist snapshot and preserve it, but the people who tried that in English tried prescribing rules that haven't existed for centuries or were just Latin rules they thought English should have, so we mostly ignored them and got on with it. And so we furthered our language, and look how much further we've come, whether we like it or not.

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