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| More than a zillion dead mozzies. |
"For over 30 years ... "
"Over 12 people attended ..."
NO. NO. NO.
It's "for MORE THAN 30 years ..." and "More than 12 people attended ..."
"Over" means on top of. It is NOT interchangeable with "more than."
It is one of my pet peeves and I see it ALL the time at my job at the newspaper. I can almost forgive seeing it used by ad reps and clients who aren't Grammar Nazis like some of us. I can even forgive rookie reporters for the faux pas.
This week the camel's back got busted right in two when I was working with a letter from David C. Onley, the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, the Queen's representative in this province, one of the top jobs in this whole country. If anyone should know the Queen's English, it's the Lieutenant Governor, am I right?
You'd think so.
But there it was. "For over ..."
Granted, he probably didn't write the letter himself. Some office hack did it, I'm sure. Still. I expected more.
And so it was with a heavy heart and a red pen that I changed the grammar of one of the province's Biggest Cheeses.
What, I ask, would the world do without me?
