Legal Writing

They are different from you and me: Lax usage

By Pam_Nelson

People who have worked hard at perfecting their writing and language use sometimes cringe when they read or hear what they consider lax usage. What stands out like weed in the flower patch to them doesn't even register with other people. For example, some readers are keenly attuned to the difference between "different from" and "different than."

The argument is that "different from" is more idiomatic in front of a noun or pronoun because different is not a comparative adjective and shouldn't be used with than. So we would use this construction, as an N&O story did, "That position underscores the stance Perdue has now formally adopted, one that is much different from her election-night pledge." 

But "different than" has a place -- in front of a clause. Here is an example of that: "Since 1982 when Sheriff Pendergrass was first elected, this county is completely different than it was." If we were to substitute "different from" in that sentence, we would introduce more words: Since 1982 when Sheriff Pendergrass was first elected, this county is completely different from the way it was.

This appears to be a fine point of usage, though, because in an archive search I found many recent examples of "different than" used in front of a noun or pronoun. Some instances are especially jarring. In each of these sentences, "different from" seems to me to be the better choice.

Officials in Apex and Holly Springs say they're not buying the argument that sweepstakes games are any different than other games of chance.

Hudgins said football speed is different than track speed.

She said Gabriella's quiet, studious character first seemed a lot different than her own talkative and outgoing personality. 

That set up the decisive game in Glendale, where a capacity white-clad crowd anticipated something much different than the Detroit drubbing that unfolded before them.

 That's quite different than people's transmission of a few cancer-causing viruses.

He said the relationship between the various parts of the ecosystem is no different than that in the human body in that one part always affects another.

So even if most readers would not smack their heads in disgust over the sentences above, careful writers and meticulous editors should pay attention. Both Bryan A. Garner in "Garner's Modern American Usage" and Theodore M. Bernstein in "The Careful Writer" devote quite a bit of space to this issue. "The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage" has a shorter, more practical explanation. The Associated Press Stylebook might lead us down the doctrinaire road and off a pedantic cliff, though. It advises flatly, "different takes the preposition from, not than."

Postscript from my archive search: I wish I had been able to do something about this short passage before it was published: About 500 students, ranging from ages 4-17, cast their votes on Tuesday. In two races, their results were different than the adults.  Not only do I want to change "different than" to" different from," but I also want to change "adults" to "adults' results."  Ah, well, hindsight is 20/20, and we don't get second chances in print.

Full post as published by Triangle Grammar Guide on May 25, 2010 (boomark / email).