And yes, I know “nother” is not a word.*  But what about this word in use at Colleen’s local Target?

I actually remember having a heated conversation with my mother when I was in high school and used the word “funner,” and she immediately corrected me.  If I am remembering correctly, I hied myself off to a dictionary — these were big, heavy books printed on paper, back in the day — and discovered that I was correct.

So when Colleen sent this in I wasn’t sure if I should post it, or what Colleen’s deal was.  And I did what I usually do when confused:  consulted the Google Gods.  Thereby I learned that this is actually a question of some real controversy!

Citation 1: The Oxford English Dictionary (edited only for page-fitting; click to embiggen**)

Now you’ll observe that the OED doesn’t even recognize “fun” as an adjective. Apparently it is also grammatically incorrect for me to say “I had a fun time writing this post.”  I think that tells us a little something about the, er, un-fun nature of the OED.  If you will.

Citation #2:  Merriam-Webster (again, edited only for page-fitting)

Actually, this is an interesting comparison of two really different philosophies, isn’t it?  Look at those colorful ads hanging out to the left of the M-W results.  The OED page was utterly ad-free.  Huh.

Anyway, back to “funner,” which here is a legitimate variant.

And that, my friends, makes the Merriam-Webster dictionary funner than the Oxford English Dictionary.  But I’m guessing that won’t surprise too many people…

*Okay, M-W actually lists “nother” too.  But it’s noted quite clearly as an “other” part of speech and “informal,” neither of which is true of “funner.”  So.

**”Embiggen,” of course, is a perfectly cromulent word.