 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
| HomeDiscussion GroupsEnglish UsageBritish EnglishESL Teaching Learnglish.com Contact UsLink To UsSearch & Site Map |
Discussion Groups / English Usage / December 2008disssimilar
it is not dissimilar from the Elton John composition "Song For Guy" it is not dissimilar to the Elton John composition "Song For Guy" which is correct? > it is not dissimilar from the Elton John composition "Song For Guy" > > it is not dissimilar to the Elton John composition "Song For Guy" > > which is correct? "To", in my American English. You're reminding me of "in the darkmans clip and kiss", by the way. -- Jerry Friedman can't remember the rest of it. In message <4b81b476-af85-4f99-a83d-ca6a5ef09b25@w24g2000prd.googlegroups.com>, "jerry_friedman@yahoo.com" <jerry_friedman@yahoo.com> writes >> it is not dissimilar from the Elton John composition "Song For Guy" >> [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] >-- >Jerry Friedman can't remember the rest of it. If it was "different", correct BrE would be "from" (often incorrectly "to"). AmE seems to have settled the argument by using "than" (which seems to be creeping into BrE). Of course, there's no argument about "similar", which is universally "to". However, equating "dissimilar" to "different", and trying to use the BrE "from" sounds wrong. Like AmE, it's obviously "to". I'm glad to hear that AmE isn't "than".  SignatureIan On Dec 30, 12:45 pm, Ian Jackson <ianREMOVETHISjack...@g3ohx.demon.co.uk> wrote: > In message > <4b81b476-af85-4f99-a83d-ca6a5ef09...@w24g2000prd.googlegroups.com>, [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] > > I'm glad to hear that AmE isn't "than". The prescribed AmE is "different from". "Different than" has about the same status here as "different to" has on your side, except that some prescriptivists accept "than" when followed by a clause; the AHD gives "The campus is different than it was 20 years ago." http://www.bartleby.com/61/53/D0215300.html -- Jerry Friedman -- Jerry Friedman In message <7c8974e9-47c5-4349-98a5-ac2e1d6c434c@z28g2000prd.googlegroups.com>, "jerry_friedman@yahoo.com" <jerry_friedman@yahoo.com> writes >On Dec 30, 12:45 pm, Ian Jackson ><ianREMOVETHISjack...@g3ohx.demon.co.uk> wrote: [quoted text clipped - 34 lines] >-- >Jerry Friedman Noted. Of course, when followed by a clause, "from" often requires the addition of something like "how" or a "that which", as in "The campus is different from how it was 20 years ago", "This car is different from that which I used to drive". SignatureIan >In message ><4b81b476-af85-4f99-a83d-ca6a5ef09b25@w24g2000prd.googlegroups.com>, [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] > >I'm glad to hear that AmE isn't "than". Four of the quotations in the OED are: 1802 E. PARSONS Myst. Visit II. 154 A wish of her own dissimilar with any expressed wish of his. 1819 W. TAYLOR in Monthly Rev. LXXXIX. 78 Short lucubrations, not dissimilar from those of the Spectator. 1848 C. BRONTË J. Eyre xii, A new picture..it was dissimilar to all the others hanging there. 1876 HUMPHREYS Coin-Coll. Man. vi. 69 An entirely new style of coinage..which..was..dissimilar from the Roman. So, there we have it: dissimilar "with", "from" or "to". Pick your take. SignaturePeter Duncanson, UK (in alt.usage.english) >In message ><4b81b476-af85-4f99-a83d-ca6a5ef09b25@w24g2000prd.googlegroups.com>, [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] >"to"). AmE seems to have settled the argument by using "than" (which >seems to be creeping into BrE). The idea that "different to" is any less correct than "different from" in BrE was dismissed by Fowler as a "superstition" and "mere pedantry" eighty years ago. He quotes the statement in the OED that it is found in "writers of all ages". I don't think I've ever seen it seriously argued that he was wrong. SignatureDon Aitken Mail to the From: address is not read. To email me, substitute "clara.co.uk" for "freeuk.com" >>In message >><4b81b476-af85-4f99-a83d-ca6a5ef09b25@w24g2000prd.googlegroups.com>, [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] >in "writers of all ages". I don't think I've ever seen it seriously >argued that he was wrong. You can follow "similar" with "if/when compared to". As you can do the same with "different", I suppose you could argue that it is logical to say "different to". SignatureIan Ian Jackson wrote, in <TGBHyMDKCzWJFwcz@g3ohx.demon.co.uk> on Wed, 31 Dec 2008 08:42:50 +0000: > >>In message > >><4b81b476-af85-4f99-a83d-ca6a5ef09b25@w24g2000prd.googlegroups.com>, [quoted text clipped - 24 lines] > same with "different", I suppose you could argue that it is logical to > say "different to". On the other hand you can't say "differs to", I can't anyway; maybe that is where the opposition to "different to" comes from. SignatureNick Spalding BrE/IrE >Ian Jackson wrote, in <TGBHyMDKCzWJFwcz@g3ohx.demon.co.uk> > on Wed, 31 Dec 2008 08:42:50 +0000: [quoted text clipped - 30 lines] >On the other hand you can't say "differs to", I can't anyway; maybe that >is where the opposition to "different to" comes from. Possibly. But while there is the verb "to differ", there is no equivalent "to similar". SignatureIan [dissimilar to] > You're reminding me of "in the darkmans clip and kiss", by the way. [Jerry Friedman can't remember the rest of it] Embarrassment of choice, innit. http://books.google.com/books?id=fxWfE1JLUIMC&pg=PA41&lpg=PA41&dq=%22in+the+dark mans+clip+and+kiss%22&source=web&ots=snbP-97sHh&sig=yKS9LETHi4OSEb8ROxepBjc7pXY& hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=6&ct=result http://tinyurl.com/795fhb http://www.fromoldbooks.org/Farmer-MusaPedestris/the-maunders-praise-of-his-stro wling-mort.html http://tinyurl.com/9qgguv thedarkman set the following eddies spiralling through the space-time continuum: > it is not dissimilar from the Elton John composition "Song For Guy" > > it is not dissimilar to the Elton John composition "Song For Guy" > > which is correct? Any triple letter is definitely incorrect so it's "dissimilar". Signatureξ:) Proud to be curly Interchange the alphabetic letter groups to reply |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2012 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.