More Than Over

It’s a small distinction to most English speakers, but for those of us who grew up with the Associated Press Stylebook, it is a big deal. Late last week, Associated Press announced it would no longer recognize a difference between the phrases ‘over’ and ‘more than.’

The terms, they say, are now interchangeable.

I realize that I don’t always enforce the strict usage of the AP Stylebook here on Coach Jeff’s Blog. But at work, it has always been an absolute. During my Maryville College days, I used to teach from the Stylebook. At UT, Lisa still does. It has always been a strong guide for our professional writing.

The ‘more than’ vs. ‘over’ debate has always been a big one.

In the former interpretation, here is how it goes:

Over describes a physical relationship:

• Somewhere Over the Rainbow
• Bridge Over Troubled Water
• The Cow Jumped Over the Moon

More Than describes a quantity:

• The Tennessee Vols beat Mercer by more than 20 points
• My friend has lost more than 20 pounds
• Coach Jeff’s Blog has more than 20 followers (Really…I hope it is considerably more!)

At any rate, the terms were not considered interchangeable – until late last week. Lisa and I (and many other word geeks) were very disappointed at the change. I know that language evolves and so does our usage of it. I was fairly happy with the fact AP recently dropped the hyphen in email, for example.

But I guess you could say I am More Than Over the dumbing down of language.

To me, the acceptance of over as a synonym for more than represents lazy language. Or, rather, a sort of shrug of the shoulder. “Yeah, there is a distinction, but it’s not worth fighting over.” I can accept that argument, to a point. But, if you give in on every point of informality, soon enough we’re all going to be nodding heads and starting our conversations with the proverbial “S’up?’

Can you imagine starting a memo that way? Or answering an email?

I try to be modern in many aspects of my life. At times, Holly thinks that, perhaps, I am too much that way.

Still, there are times when I feel it is appropriate to be old school. I’m not a fan of the designated hitter; I prefer plain cheese pizza; I like my wing tips.

And I wish we would stop compromising on the use of our language…over and over.

JG

Originally posted 3/25/2014