Quote:

I am having difficulty finding an authoritative source that can provide the distinction between these two words.
Is there a difference?
There are times when intuitively, one seems a better choice.
"The farther I reach the further away the item drifts".
But, I cannot provide a real REASON behind this instinct.

Anyone have more details?



The details are abstract.
Take Little Willie John for example. He sang...

Further on up the road
When I'm all alone and blue
Like you mistreated somebody
Someone's gonna mistreat you.

So you see "further", is not normanlly used as a particular for "farther" , but it is most time used as adverb to denote a distance or time in the abstract.

The reason?
A distinction was needed when referring to a hypothetical and folks like Little Willie John know best.

EDIT:Also, what tsuwm said.

Last edited by themilum; 12/03/06 05:59 PM.