“More than” is one of the most overused terms of embellishment these days. I see it on websites, brochures, company descriptions, articles, books, emails, etc. ad nauseam. The most recent example I’ve seen was a comment in which the author wrote: “We have more than 10 interns…”
Here’s the thing: 10 is a small enough number that it demands precision. If the person had said “We have more than 100 interns…” I’d have no issue, because 100 is a large number. You could easily have more than 100 interns – say, 110, and not realize it. But when you have 10, that’s a small enough number that the addition of an 11th or 12th intern should be easily accountable.
So, when you use the term “more than” try to use it only in cases where the number is large enough that it doesn’t demand a high-level of precision. Otherwise, it just comes across as silly embellishment.
