Among V/S between

[saurabhkamal1981]

Hi Instructors,

Please help. I am currently reading chapter-9, idioms, SC-4th edition, pg no. 147.

Between and among is explained with an example on pg no. 147:-

A battle ensued BETWEEN the reactionaries AND the radicals
A skirmish ensued AMONG the combatants (more than 2 parties)

Can you please help me in the following sentences as i have a doubt on these sentences.

Walking barefoot through her garden after the rainstorm, Erika decided that the mud felt good among her toes.

(1) among her toes
(2) between her toes

I don’t like to eat (between/among) meals.

Because they had 12 children, my grandparents have 50 grandchildren (between/among) them.

The map says the pirates buried the treasure (between/among) the beach, the cliff, and the island’s center.

Thanks
Saurabh

[tim]

Between her toes. Where is the mud? Wherever it is, you can say it is between two toes..

Between meals. Same deal - if you eat, it is between two meals..

As for the other two examples, neither actually makes sense regardless of which option you choose. Your grandparents, if they are the ones that had 12 children together, had 50 grandchildren TOGETHER..

Treasure is not buried between or among any physical places; it is buried IN THE MIDST of these places. Treasure can however be distributed between two people or among three people..

[saurabhkamal1981]

Thank you so much Tim for your reply. Your explanation has cleared my doubt.
So, "between" comes with two parties and "among" comes with more than two parties.

Thanks once again.

[mschwrtz]

Glad Tim was able to help.