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Joined: Mar 2002
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Pooh-Bah
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OP
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692 |
A document just received from an American company contains the phrase “This was different than the one we inspected for you last month”. Is ‘different than’ commonly used in the USA? I would normally use ‘different from’ and have seen ‘different to’ used, but ‘different than’ is new to me.
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
Different than is common enough in the US. According to those who count these things up, it's nowhere near as common as different from and you can send some people into fits of apoplexy by using it at all. I was involved in a knock-down drag-out argument about it on the TVR forum once and came out deciding that none of the phrases (you'll also hear different against and different with if you try really hard) make any sense and one might as well say different nor or recast the sentence to say that two things differ in some respect.
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156 |
dxb,
We have probably had this discussion before and I think we concluded here (being much less SNOOTY than TVR) that it's something of a regional thing. For the record, I usually say different than but I would never write it; I would write different from. Someone probably taught me once that one was "wrong". (Now I know better - wrong language usage is relative!)
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
Yes, different than is fairly common here. What I use tends to depend on the rest of the wording. I'd say, 'this one is different from that one', but 'this one is a different one than that one'.
As long as it isn't different to; that just about literally sets my teeth on edge. [vicious hatred e]
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Joined: Sep 2001
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2001
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Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 833
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 833 |
In reply to:
I can't stand the sound of different than...FTR.
ditto. makes me go all shivery, in a bad way - the way I go when I hear some say something is "more better than" or any similar construction....ewww!
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
I can't stand the sound of different than  Oops--I shall try to remember that! Isn't it funny--some incorrect things I have adopted--probably regionalisms; and yet, I bristle right up at so many other mis-usages (if that's a word). Although I'm glad you said that, ww and mg--I was wondering if I was the only one who lets things like that get to me so strongly, when in the grand scheme of things, they really aren't all that important.
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467 |
I'm beginning to feel like a broken CD here. There's an easy way to remember whether from or than is correct after different. Recast the sentence.
This group is different from that group.
This group is different than that group.
But if you recast the sentence, you have:
This group differs from that group.
or
This group differs than that group.
NO one I know would use "differs than." Not even my brother who passed the test to be a speed bump. And not even my other brother who failed the same test.
TEd
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
beginning to feel like a broken CD here
It's probably not broken, it's more likely just a smudge. If you give it a good cleaning with a lint-free cloth you'll be able to get past your little problem.
Different from is, as you noted, based on the construction differs from. There's probably other versions of this analogy that don't work; the best I can come up with offhand is varies from/variant of.
Different to is based on the synonymous construction dissimilar to and different than on the synonymous construction other than.
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