Saturday, July 28, 2012

Thought for the day



toad

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Differently FROM you."

Anonymous said...

"Differently FROM you."

Anon@11:40: I am here to learn. I appreciate your authority in making this correction. But I need to know the grammatical rule in order to understand it. Hope you will return and provide that for me/us.

-Flo

Toad said...

Flo,this may help.

http://www.dailywritingtips.com/different-from-different-to-different-than/

Anonymous said...

"Flo,this may help."

It didn't. But thank you. I'm looking for the rule. The law. The comparative>adverb>clause>preposition>phrase holy almighty rule that settles the case once and for all. I started through a few things earlier, got partway there before getting lazy, decided I'd fall back on your Anon@11:40 who seemed so sure, thought I'd tap that source.

-F

2Stoics said...

According to the Oxford Dictionary:

"Some people criticize different than as incorrect but there’s no real justification for this view. There’s little difference in sense between the three expressions, and all of them are used by respected writers."

http://oxforddictionaries.com/words/different-from-than-or-to


This isn't the most pressing issue in this exchange, however. What worries me is that Anonymous has lived a life so devoid of love and joy that incorrectly picking flaws in other people's grammar seems to be a good use of his or her remaining time on Earth, because it imparts to the victim some tiny hint of the great yawning void of meaninglessness that anonymous has allowed to poison what ought to be a beautiful life. Go take a walk, Anonymous. Pet a dog. Eat an ice cream cone. Call your mother. It doesn't have to end this way.

Anonymous said...

"What worries me is that Anonymous has lived a life so devoid of love and joy that..."

Ohhh RulingPart, I don't feel that way about Anon@11:40, I love grammarians. I love rules about good form. I just like it to make sense according to rules of grammar.

For example, the quotation is already messed up way before we get to than/from. It should read:

"Don't judge someone just because HE sins differently than/from you." Reasoning being that Someone is singluar, so They [being plural] is incorrect.

Oh well. Goodnight, sleep tight.

-F

2Stoics said...

Just posted a comment without logging in...

Anyway, you're a heck of a great guy, toad, and that's a very classy response. I can't STAND it when somebody nitpicks something I love, and I love your blog.

I just took some writer from GQ to task for callign Hemmingway's work "masculine" and "bad," not that he'll ever read it or care, but same thing. Probably not the best way to go, I see that, but on the other hand SOMEBODY needs to give these people realistic feedback!

I'm going to call my therapist now.

You're aces,

RulingPart

2Stoics said...

Hey, Anonymous! I count two spelling errors and a comma where there ought to be a semicolon. What else is wrong with it?

Seriously, take a drive up the coast. It'll do you good.

Anonymous said...

"I can't STAND it when somebody nitpicks something I love, and I love your blog."

GO RulingPart! If I thought Toad had penned that quotation, I'd NEVER have uttered a word. But I don't think it's his work, so I felt OK about putting in a snort or two.

Now I think I'll grow my hair like Ricky Lauren.

-F

Toad said...

My favorite part of being here each day is the feedback. I have no truck with anyone, anon or not, taking issue with anything posted, so long as the basic niceties are followed.

As for picking apart the grammar, so be it. It made some of us look up the usage rules, and we accidently may have learned something.

I'm glad anon was here to keep us honest.

Anonymous said...

"I'm glad anon was here to keep us honest."

Sniff. I'm honest all by myself. I think "than" is correct. Just complete the sentence.

Don't judge someone just because he sins differently than you [do].

-F

Toad said...

The greatest problem with THAN comparisons is often the missing word.

Gail, in northern California said...

Yikes. Makes my head hurt.

Mornin', Toad.

2Stoics said...

I didn't follow the basic nicities. Sorry, guys.