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