Post #1351284
2026-03-31 16:11 UTC
@Starfia
Rigid and arbitrary, a different example then. In US prescriptivist usage "between" can only be used for two things, for more than two. "among" must be used.
Other dialects make a rather different distinction.
We camped among (not between) the trees in the wood.
We camped between (not among) the trees, the river and the cliff.
Replies (1)
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@Starfia@mastodon.social 2026-04-04 08:01
@hayesstw – I see; thank you for the example. ^ ^ I've noticed that, though the "between / amid" distinction is made in an Oxford usage note for US English, the US and UK definitions for "between" are identical (one of which cites "choosing between" two or more things as correct). Further, since "-tween" derives etymologically from a word meaning "two," that doesn't seem prescriptivist; certainly not arbitrary.