8 ms·

As another commenter here pointed out, it's preferred, not correct. This is the old prescriptivist vs descriptivist debate, as seen among linguists. (Disclaim

by etfb 12y ago

As another commenter here pointed out, it's preferred, not correct. This is the old prescriptivist vs descriptivist debate, as seen among linguists. (Disclaimer: I am not a linguist. I just read Language Log.) If you're fretting about the correct this and the proper that (prepositions at the end of sentences, "whom" instead of "who", and so on), you're a prescriptivist, and you may (note, I said may) be making up rules where no rules are needed. I prefer descriptivism (as in: "nauseous" now means the same thing as "nauseated", which is different from its old meaning of "nausea-making", because that's how it's used). (Edit: "different to" sounded wrong. I could never remember which way that goes.)

thanatropism 12y ago
So, the correct nomenclature here is "preferred" rather than "correct"? Or is "preferred" a "preferred" word, but "correct" is allowable?
dantheta 12y ago
As an aside to your edit, I have also seen "different than" used more and more often of late. I'm not sure if it is an Americanism that I was just unaware of. It's not that "different than" is wrong, it's just different from what I'm used to!
- cokernel 12y ago
  Yes, "different than" is an Americanism. I believe that "different from" is most common across all dialects of English: http://alt-usage-english.org/excerpts/fxdiffer.html http://alt-usage-english.org/excerpts/fxdiffer.html (Note: This only compares UK English and American English, not "all dialects".)
- etfb 12y ago
  In Year Eight at school, I had an English teacher who liked to mix things up a little. One time, I was answering a question in class, and I used "different to" or "different from" or something -- maybe even "different than", I don't remember now. The teacher told me to stand up, then explained that there was a right form and a wrong form for this, and got everyone to pick sides -- "than" here, "from" there and "to" over there. Then I bamboozled him, because I noticed that the smartest girl in the class, a gorgeous lass who gloried in the surname of Snodgrass, had picked a different side, so I reasoned that she was more likely right and defected to the same group. The teacher was deeply annoyed that I apparently didn't have the courage of my convictions; my point, which I understood instinctively even at that age, was that embarrassing a student to make a point was a totally shit way to educate people, and if he was going to place such a high premium on game playing in class, he could call me Kobayashi Maru. To this day, I still can't remember which is correct - "than", "from" or "to". But I can remember the look on his face, and the fact that after that he stuck with slightly less aggravating teaching methods.
aninhumer 12y ago
For the most part, I don't think these kinds of issues are caused by disagreements in linguistic philosophy. Most people are taught language in a way which encourages them to think in a prescriptivist way, and they simply never learn about descriptivism.
- etfb 12y ago
  And thence comes most of the really stupid arguments on Facebook that aren't about guns or Firefly. This is why I long to own a t-shirt bearing the words "Practising Peddant".

by etfb 12y ago

thanatropism 12y ago

So, the correct nomenclature here is "preferred" rather than "correct"? Or is "preferred" a "preferred" word, but "correct" is allowable?

dantheta 12y ago

As an aside to your edit, I have also seen "different than" used more and more often of late. I'm not sure if it is an Americanism that I was just unaware of. It's not that "different than" is wrong, it's just different from what I'm used to!

cokernel 12y ago
Yes, "different than" is an Americanism. I believe that "different from" is most common across all dialects of English: http://alt-usage-english.org/excerpts/fxdiffer.html http://alt-usage-english.org/excerpts/fxdiffer.html (Note: This only compares UK English and American English, not "all dialects".)
etfb 12y ago
In Year Eight at school, I had an English teacher who liked to mix things up a little. One time, I was answering a question in class, and I used "different to" or "different from" or something -- maybe even "different than", I don't remember now. The teacher told me to stand up, then explained that there was a right form and a wrong form for this, and got everyone to pick sides -- "than" here, "from" there and "to" over there. Then I bamboozled him, because I noticed that the smartest girl in the class, a gorgeous lass who gloried in the surname of Snodgrass, had picked a different side, so I reasoned that she was more likely right and defected to the same group. The teacher was deeply annoyed that I apparently didn't have the courage of my convictions; my point, which I understood instinctively even at that age, was that embarrassing a student to make a point was a totally shit way to educate people, and if he was going to place such a high premium on game playing in class, he could call me Kobayashi Maru. To this day, I still can't remember which is correct - "than", "from" or "to". But I can remember the look on his face, and the fact that after that he stuck with slightly less aggravating teaching methods.

aninhumer 12y ago

For the most part, I don't think these kinds of issues are caused by disagreements in linguistic philosophy. Most people are taught language in a way which encourages them to think in a prescriptivist way, and they simply never learn about descriptivism.

etfb 12y ago
And thence comes most of the really stupid arguments on Facebook that aren't about guns or Firefly. This is why I long to own a t-shirt bearing the words "Practising Peddant".