[_gtly]

People using 'further' instead of 'farther' (used for distance) used to get me upset, but people mistake them so often that I realized I was getting upset for no good reason. I know what they meant even if they were ignorant of the grammar. I agree that in an academic paper you don't want to see grammar mistakes, but in many other contexts if you understand what is meant, it's no use getting bent out of shape.

[2zcon]

I do understand it but, for my colleagues and friends who don't have English as their first language, it adds another caveat to learn and remember without a logical basis. That's another place to introduce ambiguity and errors.

I don't get angry at non-standard usage but I think it's important not to ignore the purpose of consistent style.

[zimpenfish]

> people mistake them so often that I realized I was getting upset for no good reason

Indeed, because they come from the same root - the difference only came from English peasants and their wacky spellings.

https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=45754