Date: Thu, 23 Feb 1995 18:51:33 CST
From: "Donald M. Lance" ENGDL[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]MIZZOU1.BITNET
Subject: Re: "different than"
Merriam-Webster's WEBSTER'S DICTIONARY OF ENGLISH USAGE (1989) has a nice
piece on "different from, than, to". British English still uses "different
to." The article points out that "different from" is first attested in
Shakespeare's COMEDY OF ERRORS (1593). The first objections to "different
than" were raised in 1770.
All dialectologists (and others who are concerned with usage) should have a
copy of this valuable resource. The entries are rather full, with a history
of each usage item, including references to squabbles. The entries are
based on the extensive Merriam-Webster citation files and include info from
OED. I'm not selling the book, just giving scholars a lead on good source
information. DMLance