Depends who you ask. She does refer to a number of style guides for each topic, so what she posts is coming directly from one of these style guides. I know she uses Fowler's Guide and Garner's Modern American Usage. Here's what the CMoS has to say about this issue:
There ought to be a superhero comic book starring Grammar Girl and Grammar Boy. They get their assignments from their Gramma.
The villain could be Garfield the Grocer, who has a nasty habit of misusing apostrophes. And as a tribute to WF, there should be an issue dedicated to italics.
Any mistakes I notice annoy me, especially if those mistakes are made by people whose first language is English.
Farther refers to length or distance. It is the comparative form of the word far when referring to distance. (Is it much farther to go?) Further means "to a greater degree," "additional," or "additionally." It refers to time or amount. It is the comparative form of the word far when meaning "much." (This needs further work)
just heard one a few seconds ago that always gets my eyes arollin'... 'off of'! as in 'nothing is off of the table at this time'... guess you can guess where and by whom it was committed...
It's probably been said a few times over but the misuse of their, there, and they're as well as to and too. Oh and those who say something like "I seen that yesterday" when it really should be "I saw that yesterday" - I don't really know which is the correct term on that but it bugs me nonetheless.
People from the Southern US say stuff like this a lot. Even though it's technically incorrect, it has grown to become a part of their dialect, so there's not much anyone can do about it.
Roget's: Further adv. additionally, besides, also, moreover, furthermore, together with, in addition, too, to boot, over and above, as well as, along with, yet.
Webster's: Farther syn. FARTHER and FURTHER are often used interchangeably but FARTHER implies greater distance from a point in space or less often in time, and FURTHER applies to advance not only in space or time but also in degree or in quantity (move out farther from the city; no further discussion is needed)
Thanks, Ribcracker. I was going mostly by the Concise Oxford English Dictionary, which says they're generally interchangeable except in the sense of "further" as a verb. Could be a British thing (I grew up in Canada, and we have a lot of British influence in our English).
Here here! Hear hear! I can't for the life of me remember when to use life and when to use live. It just never sticks. I don't do much serious writing so I just usually go with life... Also, I was wondering if standing beside someone is correct English, as in: Jane stood beside Caine. It doesn't sound quite right because beside is often used as besides, and I don't mean to say Jane stood besides Caine! I guess this is why I am still a Pvt. Grammar Nazi
Thanks for easing up, minstrel. I live about thirty miles from Windsor so I'm nearly Canadian. Colour my world, brother!
Huh, how about that. I’ve always wondered about the difference(s) between ’further’ and ’farther.’ In all honesty, though, what is even worse than a grammar error is a self-important, full-of-him/herself grammar Nazi. On the other hand, it’s double the amusement when they SpAG out A friend of mine is like that. There’s nothing wrong in correcting others, but when done in the bitchiest way possible while pretending she herself is somehow impervious to a brief brain spaz-out, it makes me feel like one of these days I’m gonna hack her blog, pepper it with errors (more errors), and then point them all out to her in a long, ear-grating tirade, spoken in a nasal, high-pitched voice while furiously shaking my index finger at her (I’m referring to our native tongue here, though, not English, but suppose every language has its abusers).
