More on over and more than

I just read an authoritative dissertation on how The Associated Press is anal retentive about the use of "over" and "more than." According to AP, you don't say "over one billion burgers sold"; AP would say "more than one billion..."

The blog writer says that "over" and "more than" have been interchangeable since the 14th century. He says that copy editors are wasting their time changing over to more than. At one time, I would have said that it didn't matter. In fact, I did say that.

I was editing a story in 1984 (I have a long memory), and my boss looked over my shoulder and pointed to "over." Perhaps it said that "over 40 football players were injured." He said he preferred "more than," so I changed it. At the time, I had no opinion.

But, over the years, my opinion changed. As my boss/friend said, the cow jumped over the moon, but more than 20 cattle followed him.

The blog writer is welcome to his opinion, but, if I can, I prefer to be precise.

Contact: I can be reached at tgilli52@gmail.com or nc3022@yahoo.com. Also, my Twitter handle is EDITORatWORK.

More EDITOR@WORK blog entries

• You really DO need an editor

• Reminders for would-be novelists

• What I do when I'm editing

• What I charge (it's a deal) and what I edit

• Slogging through the Internet

• J-school: More eyes on your stories

• J-school: Go out and learn

• Rookie mistakes for magazine writers

Entries from The Dog Blog

• Katie cried

• Growl and pull

• 12 years with Lady

• ... said the spider to ...

• The Dog Diary (2014)

• YIP! YIP! The stereo-sound huskies

• What Lady and Michael Jackson had in common

Blog entries from The Auto Racing Journal

• Angel in Black: Remembering Dale Earnhardt Sr.

(a book of great stories about the Intimidator)

• Then Junior Said to Jeff...

(the book of great NASCAR stories)

• My best day as a sports writer

• Jeff Gordon's milk toast to Dale Earnhardt

• Wayne Auton: A life in racing

More blog entries by Tom Gillispie

• Resume for a writer and editor

• An editor's views on powerful writing

• Advice for be and would-be novelists

• Links to TG's stories online

• Favorite quotes

• What I do when I'm editing

Anecdotes by Tom Gillispie

• Wipeout at Death Valley

• Days with rainbows

• A desperate writer working in the dark

• Yer outta there!