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Is it true that 'further' and 'farther' are becoming interchangeable?

He drove further north.

His furthest destination to travel is 167 miles.

This link says that further is now widely "used and accepted in all senses, even to designate physical distance."

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  • It seems that your question answers itself with that link. Do you have some reason to doubt it?
    – B. Szonye
    Commented Feb 27, 2014 at 0:15
  • Yes, because it was the only site I found that mentions this. I was curious whether the trend is headed that way.
    – whippoorwill
    Commented Feb 27, 2014 at 0:17
  • You might want to play with Google ngrams to get a sense for how common usages are in writing.
    – B. Szonye
    Commented Feb 27, 2014 at 0:19
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    In the US, they're individual variants, like beside/besides, toward/towards, older/elder, etc. One can choose either, for any reason. There may be some fixed phrases where one is preferred, but there's no systematic difference between them.
    – John Lawler
    Commented Feb 27, 2014 at 0:30
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    This Google Ngram seems to indicate there was no distinction between further and farther before 1750 or so. I'm willing to bet that's when this grammatical advice was first offered.
    – Peter Shor
    Commented Feb 27, 2014 at 2:54

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The distinction in meaning still technically exists but colloquial usage doesn't really care and just picks one. You can still find plenty of guides online detailing which is more appropriate but more modern articles are beginning to include paragraphs such as the following from Grammar Girl:

The good news is that in ambiguous cases it doesn't matter which word you choose. Although careful writers will try to stick with the distinction between "further" and "farther," the Oxford English Dictionary, Fowler's Modern English Usage, and a number of other sources say that, in most cases, it's fine to use "further" and "farther" interchangeably, especially when the distinction isn't clear. People have been using them interchangeably for hundreds of years.

So, to directly answer your question:

Is it true that 'further' and 'farther' are becoming interchangeable?

They have been used interchangeably for ages in spite of the pedantic distinction between the two meanings. So, they aren't becoming interchangeable; they already are interchangeable.

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  • So is farther and further getting closer or digressing?
    – RyeɃreḁd
    Commented Apr 16, 2014 at 16:08
  • @RyeɃreḁd: Their meanings are converging.
    – MrHen
    Commented Apr 16, 2014 at 16:10
  • Can I work on farthering my career?
    – RyeɃreḁd
    Commented Apr 16, 2014 at 16:11
  • @RyeɃreḁd: Whether "farthering" should suddenly be considered a word is kind of a separate issue. :)
    – MrHen
    Commented Apr 16, 2014 at 16:15
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    Ha that is nitpicky - could I say, "How do I farther my career at this company?" I am sure my boss would say, "Step 1, quit speaking Engrish."
    – RyeɃreḁd
    Commented Apr 16, 2014 at 16:17

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