Among or amongst

dontcallme · Post by **dontcallme** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 11:55 am

Is there a difference in the usage of among or amongst?

JuanTwoThree · Post by **JuanTwoThree** » Tue Dec 23, 2008 9:10 am

If there is, i have been blissfully unaware of it for the last fifty years. I doubt if "amongst" is used as much though: it even has a faint whiff of the archaic.

I see that while "among" outgoogles "amongst" by a long way, "talk amongst yourselves" beats "talk among yourseves". Which is interesting, if you like that kind of thing.

jotham · Post by **jotham** » Mon Dec 29, 2008 4:24 am

Bryan Garner:

Most such forms ending in -st, such as whilst and amidst, are archaisms in AmE. Amongst is no exception: in AmE it is pretentious at best...
Amongst is more common and more tolerable in BrE, where it doesn't suggest affectation.

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