word choice - Analogy: "as if" vs. "as though"


This is something that confuses me from time to time. When making an analogy in literature, is it better to use the phrase "as if" or "as though", or is it completely a style thing?


E.g.



She looked frazzled, as if she had just gotten off of a roller coaster.



or



She looked frazzled, as though she had just gotten off of a roller coaster.




Answer



Garner in Modern American Usage (p67) has an entry on this. First he claims:



Attempts to distinguish between these idioms have proved futile. Euphony should govern the choice of phrase.



He then goes on to state:



One plausible distinction is that as if often suggests the more hypothetical proposition when cast in the subjunctive <as if he were a god>. ... By contrast, as though suggests a more plausible suggestion <it looks as though it might rain>.



However, I see no distinction in suggestion or meaning between the OP's two sentences.


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