Use of "that" in place of "than" in comp

AndyJ   Thu Mar 30, 2006 7:10 am GMT
Hi, first post for me here. I have noticed (most often when reading discussion fora of various kinds) that there seems to be a creeping use of THAT in place of THAN when using comparison. For example, where I would use "This car is bigger than the other one" I am seeing "This car is bigger that the other one".

I have been assuming this to be an error of the same type as when people write "I should of gone home" instead of "I should have gone home", namely because in speech the word "have" in such a sentence is generally reduced to 've (should've) and people then mistakenly believe they have heard "should of".

But I now wonder whether this is a creeping change in usage from some source or other. I have never seen any indication that "bigger that" would be correct in place of "bigger than".

Am I alone in this observation (I doubt I can be as I have seen this so often), or does anyone happen to know the reason/cause/probable cause?

Thanks in advance.
AndyJ
Guest   Thu Mar 30, 2006 8:08 am GMT
"Should of" sounds like should've, make sense. But how does "that" sound like "than"? It appears to be some kind of dyslexic typo.