Tamara asked:- > > Somewhere in the deep recesses of my memory, there's a half-buried idea > that "each other" and "one another" are *not* the same thing, and are > used differently. I seem to remember being taught that one's used when > the interraction is limited to two only, and the other's used when > there's a bigger group. The problem is, I can't, for the life of me, > remember *which is which*... >
Here's an extract from my 1944 copy of H.W. Fowler's "A Dictionary of Modern English Usage" (Oxford University Press), page 125. " . . . 'Each other' is by some writers used only when no more than two things are referred to, 'one another' being similarly appropriated to larger numbers; the differentiation is neither of present utility nor based on historical usage; the old distributive of two as opposed to several was not 'each', but 'either; and 'either other', which formerly existed beside 'each other' and 'one another', would doubtless have survived if its special meaning had been required." Of course, American English may work differently . . . Linda Walton, (enjoying a warm Spring evening in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, U.K.). To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace-chat [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
