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each other vs one another
I was wondering which of "one another" and "each other" do you use when talking about only two and more than two persons or things.
Webster states that: Some speakers use each other only of two individuals and one another only of more than two, but in common use no distinction is made.
"An eight-minute power outage hit the control tower at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, forcing traffic controllers to switch to a backup transmitter to reach a US Airways jetliner converging on a sister jet, officials said. The planes never got within five to seven miles of one another, officials said."
(from a newspaper)
As for me, I'd prefer one another, as in the context, to refer to two because it suggests one and another, which equals two, and each other to refer to more than two. However, "each" can refer to every one of two or more.
What do you think of it?
Last edited by retro; 10-Jul-2007 at 01:23.
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Re: each other vs one another
I don't bother with the distinction and I agree that many users would assume follow your logic.
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Re: each other vs one another

Originally Posted by
Tdol
I don't bother with the distinction and I agree that many users would assume follow your logic.

Thanks!
Anyway, my eyes alighted on the part "would assume follow your logic" of your reply. I may be wrong, but "assume" can be followed by a noun or a that clause or a noun + a verb. Or so says my dictionary (Oxford), which has already proved to be misleading.
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Re: each other vs one another
It's a typo- I must have had 'I assume' and changed it to 'I agree' but not deleted the original.
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