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Compare these sets of sentences:
a. Profits went up over $100 million last quarter.
b. Profits went up more than $100 million last quarter.
a. Over 2,000 people attended the lecture last year.
b. More than 2,000 people attended the lecture last year.
a. He drank over 500 bottles of Coca-Cola and almost exploded.
b. He drank more than 500 bottles of Coca-Cola and almost exploded.
Which sentences are correct, the ‘a’s or ‘b’s?
The answer: It depends who you ask.
At least one grammar hound protested AP’s change in style.
It used to be the right answer would have been b. in all three examples. There is a clear grammatical reason for this. Dollars, people, and bottles are countable. If you can count it, you use ‘more than.’ If you can’t, use ‘over.’
Over the years, however, this grammar rule was constantly misapplied; it got to the point at which more people were probably applying the rule incorrectly than correctly. Eventually, the Associated Press, in its AP Stylebook, announced in 2014 that it was going with the flow, and ruled that either would be acceptable. This led one critic to tweet “more than my dead body!” (Get it?)
So use either ‘over’ or ‘more than,’ but be consistent. We recommend you stick with one.
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