Further vs Farther and Apostrophes with Dates

Yup, it's still Thursday! Here's your second post for the day (because I'm playing a bit of catchup). It's short, sweet, and to the point. We're going over further and farther--two words that get confused more often than I like to admit. To my point: I have a post-it over my desk to remind me which one is which. *holds fingers in L to forehead* Another post-it I have up is about dates. So, grab those pens and notebooks and let's get going!

To put it simply:

Further is figurative distance, or something intangible that can't be measured by standard means.
Farther is physical distance, or something you can apply a tape measure to, resulting in a concrete number.

Examples:
She didn't want to speak further on the topic.
If he'd pried into my mother's illness any further, I would've smacked him.

I walked farther into the woods.
Because my arms are longer, I can reach farther than you.

I hope this little tip helps you keep them straight, too. My post-it looks like this:


I have others, but that's one I need to reference often.

On to dates!

When you're writing dates, remember not to use an apostrophe with the S.

It should look like this:
1990s
or
2940s
not
1990's

Examples:
I used my time-travel machine to go back and visit the 1800s for a week.
In my research, I found that time-travel might become possible by the 2900s.

Get it? No apostrophes with dates! *grin*

If you want a tip on lay and lie, go visit my cohort, Tia Silverthorne Bach. She's got a cute image to help you keep them straight.

Did these tips help at all? What do you confuse?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo