re: Dice - Die page 7

(quoting FAQ entry)

The Collins Cobuild Bank of English shows choice of preposition ... U.S. writing 92.7 0.3 7.0 U.S. speech 69.3 0.6 30.1

Does Cobuild have similar figures for "imply"/"infer", "fine toothcomb", "between you and I", etc.? If so, it sounds like a potentially more credible yardstick than Google for gauging (sub)standardness.

Collins Cobuild Corpus Concordance Sampler - search for recent usages http://titania.cobuild.collins.co.uk/form.html

Best Donna Richoux

(quoting FAQ entry)

Does Cobuild have similar figures for "imply"/"infer", "fine toothcomb", "between ... a potentially more credible yardstick than Google for gauging (sub)standardness.

Collins Cobuild Corpus Concordance Sampler - search for recent usages http://titania.cobuild.collins.co.uk/form.html

Thanks, Donna. I'll report back if I find anything interesting to report.

Ross Howard

"Different than", the 20th-century Americanism, is illegal in BrE.

Exactly, and you also demonstrate our superior hyphenation techniques.

Not to mention our identical quote-comma ordering.

Er...

Mike Barnes
Cheshire, England

"Different than" is more a Tonycooperism than an Americanism, I'd say. Look to AUE for evidence.

I use "different from" and "different than" arbitrarily and interchangeably. I see absolutely no difference between the two. I do notice when there's a rumble of Oy!s when I use one or the other version, but it never even registers which version is objectionable.

Certainly, it's never registered why one version is more acceptable than the other. It seems more a convention than a rule.

Is "different from" legal?

Here's our FAQ entry: "different to", "different than" "Different from" is the construction that no one will object to. ... U.K. speech 68.8 27.3 3.9 U.S. writing 92.7 0.3 7.0 U.S. speech 69.3 0.6 30.1 (END QUOTE FROM FAQ)

I commented on my usage in an earlier post today. Do I read the above correctly that my sometimes usage of "different than" is not really incorrect, but just Oy!able by those that don't approve of it?

If so, I say "Ha!"
This seems to be similar to my "people that". Great fuss and ado without solid reason for objection.

"Different than" is more a Tonycooperism than an Americanism, I'd say. Look to AUE for evidence.

I use "different from" and "different than" arbitrarily and interchangeably. I see absolutely no difference between the two. I do ... it's never registered why one version is more acceptable than the other. It seems more a convention than a rule.

Yes, it's only a convention all "rules" are only conventions but that doesn't make "different than" any different than (sic) "other from".
Both are solecisms, with the only difference that one is common and the other isn't (and it's not that even that common, according to the stats Donna reported, becasue 93% of your compatriots get it right).

Ross Howard

I use "different from" and "different than" arbitrarily and interchangeably. I see absolutely no difference between the two. I do ... never even registers which version is objectionable. Certainly, it's never registered why one version is more acceptable than the other.

Here's the simple reason: the verb form "differ" always takes "from". It's possible to produce special cases where "to" or "than" might make sense, of course.

It seems more a convention than a rule.

How do we distinguish conventions from rules in English Usage?

Matti

I use "different from" and "different than" arbitrarily and interchangeably. I see absolutely no difference between the two.

Really? Can you use "different from" before a clause? ("He's different from we thought.") I'd have to use "than".

Certainly, it's never registered why one version is more acceptable than the other. It seems more a convention than a rule.

Well, yes , but so is the convention that "Cats eat rats" means that the rats are being eaten by the cats and not vice versa - it's only a question of how widely the question is accepted.
I think the current emerging standard is that "than" is used before clauses and "from" is used before nouns. I think.
-Aaron J. Dinkin
Dr. Whom

Here's our FAQ entry: "different to", "different than" "Different ... U.S. speech 69.3 0.6 30.1 (END QUOTE FROM FAQ)

I commented on my usage in an earlier post today. Do I read the above correctly that my sometimes usage of "different than" is not really incorrect, but just Oy!able by those that don't approve of it?

It's an error committed by seven per cent of Americans in writing, is how you should read it.

If so, I say "Ha!" This seems to be similar to my "people that". Great fuss and ado without solid reason for objection.

No fuss or ado. "People that" is Oy!ably wrong, just as "the newspaper who I read" would be Oy!ably wrong.

Ross Howard