Is there any difference between following the path to somewhere and follwing the path of somewhere/something?
asked Sep 9, 2016 at 15:25
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1Simplistically, it's the difference between the destination and the journey.– LawrenceCommented Sep 9, 2016 at 16:10
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1Can you give us an example of "following the path of somewhere"?– TimRCommented Sep 9, 2016 at 18:40
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2 Answers
Following the path to usually implies that something is on a journey and going somewhere. For example:
The pilots of the airplane followed a path to New York that would take them around the hurricane.
Following the path of can mean a couple of different things. It can mean 'to follow the path that another thing has already made', for example:
The pilots of another airplane followed the path of the first airplane to avoid the storm.
It can also describe something about the composition or character of the path itself, for example:
Electricity, like many things, follows the path of least resistance.
The only other common use I can think of is the sense of watching the progress of something:
The travelers followed the path of the airplane on the screens to see when the flight would land.
Typically:
A path to <somewhere> means there is a known road / track / whatever going to the place.
A path of <something> describes the route taken by the object in question.
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1When it's used metaphorically, things might be a bit fuzzier. I see path of glory / path to glory have always been about equally common. But I wouldn't say the of version really means anything different - glory lies at the end of both paths, and neither of them is inherently a more glorious route than the other. Commented Sep 9, 2016 at 18:34