By Analogies, History of English

I have the same reaction as you do, Taka. "earlier" has the implicit comparison "earlier than you actually did"; "before" does not. "before" leaves me asking "before what?" Changing to "later /"after": I have no time to do it now; I'll do it later. (later than now) I have no time to do it...

Hi, this is just a cut & paste job from various internet resources: 1 The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology 2 The Oxford Dictionary of English Grammar 3 Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language 4 The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Linguistics (7 parts) 5 Pocket Fowler's Modern...