Wacky Word Choice: Do You Go “Over” a Bridge?

Following virtual training sessions on Write It So They Read It: Technical Writing for Non-Technical Employees or Proof It! How To Be a Better Proofreader, participants send me questions about grammar and writing and punctuation they encounter at work. For the next four weeks, I’m reaching inside the figurative mailbag to answer questions from readers. Please tag me with your pesky punctuation or confusing word choice question, and I’ll be sure to answer.

See if you can spot the “wacky word” in these sentences:

I haven’t seen you in over 10 years.

Our firm has over 500 employees in 15 offices throughout the Southeast.

Over 35 project audits have been performed to date.

We had zero safety incidents over the course of the project.

Over.

Grammatically speaking, you only go over a bridge. At least, that’s the fun 5th-grade gimmick I’ve always remembered when using over and under.

Many writers use over incorrectly. We say over when we really mean:

More than

During

Throughout

 

Instead, we should write:

I haven’t seen you in more than 10 years.

Our firm has more than 500 employees in 15 offices throughout the Southeast.

More than 35 project audits have been performed to date.

We had zero safety incidents during the course of the project.

 

To customize a keynote or professional development session that will have your audience laughing and learning, contact Mandi Stanley.

Certified Speaking Professional Mandi Stanley works with business leaders who want to boost their professional image by becoming better speakers and writers through interactive high-content keynotes, breakout sessions, workshops, technical writing seminars, and fun proofreading classes. 

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Photo by Azzedine Rouichi on Unsplash