Consider this simple statement:
"There were more then than there are now."
It's that "then than" that concerns me.
I had a boss once who would have typed that as "There were more of them than then there are now."
Seriously.
Whenever he meant "then" he'd type "than" and vice versa. An intelligent guy, so at first I thought it was just a texting typo. Nope. Consistently typed it that way. Drove me bananas, but in my elderly wisdom I decided it was not worth correcting, considering he signed the cheques.
I am seeing it all over the place lately. In comment sections particularly, but even in "articles" by people who appear to be making a living at writing. It's infuriating. I have largely stopped commenting on articles, something I used to do quite often, and even when I did comment I'd learned not to correct grammar and spelling, since I'm no true expert on either.
Still, this one is so bloody obvious! "Then" is for things past in time and "Than" is for comparison. They sound vaguely similar, but they don't remotely mean the same thing and I can't figure out how they get mixed up.
There are many, many things that get under my skin, but this is one that's buggin' me right now.
If it never happens again, than I'll be happier then I am now.
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