"Different than"..."Very unique"...yikes !!!

[SantaMufasa]

This "Most Pet-iful" of all my peeves could have fit right in on Tracy's "Pet Peeve" (thread1256-991707) or even John's "Than vs. Then" (thread1256-1070703), but the "different than"/"very unique" abuses irritates me so much, I thought they deserved a thread of their own. These mistakes rile me every bit as much as the "Bill treated Nancy and I to dinner" pandemic.

"Than" is a type of conjunction that follows comparative adjectives or comparative adverbs and precedes the object of comparison. For example, "He is older than I am" or "That is easier said than done." Following this standard mode of use for "than", if we use it with the adjective, "different", then we would need to say, "Peas taste differenter than beans," or "This is differenter than what I expected."

Since "differenter" is unusable, "differenter than" is equally unusable. Things are simply "different from" other things.

Nearly the same problem exists with "unique": Things are either "unique" or "not unique". "Unique" means one of a kind...they are incomparable. Something cannot be "very unique" or "slightly unique". If so, then we could say that "This is uniquer than that," or "This is the uniquest of all."

Let's eliminate "different than" in favour of the correct "different from"; and if something is "unique" we don't need to make it "uniquer" by saying it is "very unique".

[now climbing down from his soap box]

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)

http://www.dasages.com

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[SantaMufasa]

Abuses irritate", not "abuses irritates"...I hate my chubby fingers and even chubbier brain. Please forgive. (I did catch it before someone else did...does that count?)

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)

http://www.dasages.com

Do you use Oracle and live or work in Utah, USA?
Then click here to join Utah Oracle Users Group on Tek-Tips.

 

[PaulTEG]

y'see that's the pluralities right there

abuses irritate me
abuse irritates me

depends on whether you view them as one and the same or more differenter than each other to validate their own very uniqueness ;-)

Yeah, it annoys me even greaterly than you can imagine
--Paul

cigless ...

 

[UniqueFD]

Dave,
Are you OK with 'different to'?

Tony
___________________________________________________
Reckless words pierce like a sword,
but the tongue of the wise brings healing (Solomon)

 

[earthandfire]

No

Different from
Similar to

 

[SantaMufasa]

Agreed, Earth. Thanks for the confirmation.

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)

http://www.dasages.com

Do you use Oracle and live or work in Utah, USA?
Then click here to join Utah Oracle Users Group on Tek-Tips.

 

[Thadeus]

'Different to' of course only being used incorrectly when the 'to' is separating a comparison.

example of incorrect usage:
"...explains how digital radio is different to FM radio."

Other uses of 'different to' are of course just fine.
examples:
"...when you're looking for something different to do..."
"We are considered different to the people of..."
"LINUX is quite different to setup."

~Thadeus

 

[earthandfire]

Agreed, except your second "valid" usage of "to" is rather confusing. Maybe "by" would have been a better choice?

 

[Thadeus]

earthandfire, I agree, there are better ways to word it and you pointed out a very good alternative. I was just trying to come up with some examples without spending my morning doing so.

~Thadeus

 

[ggauthier]

>>Things are either "unique" or "not unique"

Webster's Dictionary, copyright 1983 (hardcopy)

unique:
1. having nor like or equal
2. being the only one of its kind
3. highly unusual

The on-line version of the Merriam-Webster dictionary has a Usage write up that explains the three definitions

http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=unique&x=15&y=15

Not all dictionaries contain this definition, so I suppose acceptable use is dependent upon which dictionary one supports.

-glenn

 

[elanor]

I couldn't agree more. I have edited technical documentation that included the phrase "extremely unique." My screams were audible for miles.
Thanks!
Elanor

 

[SkipVought]

Could this be said for the term, the "exact same" thing?

Could something be the same as something else and NOT be exactly the same?

Can same things be approximately the same?

Exact same irks me for some reason!

Skip,

_{[red]Be advised:[/red]When Viscounts were guillotined just as they were disclosing where their jewels were hidden, it shows to go that you should...
Never hatchet your Counts before they chicken!}

 

[earthandfire]

Surely if its not exactly the same its similar

 

[earthandfire]

ggauthier, I noted my lack of confidence in m-w in one of the threads about interrogator. The usage section for 2b and 3 just confirms this. I don't think than unique can be qualified.

 

[Stella740pl]

A similar topic was discussed here in January, thread1256-979053 “Quantifiers and Absolute Words”.

As for "unique", an interesting link was provided by sleipnir214. Here it is:

http://www.yourdictionary.com/ahd/u/u0084800.html

Scroll down to see the usage note.

 

[CajunCenturion]

I guess it boils down to whether or not you want your dictionary to be authoritative or reflective.

Merriam-Webster, and the New Oxford Dictionary, are both reflective by nature; that is, their aim is to present the English language as it is generally used and accepted. Both of these dictionaries allow for unique to have a relative meaning, thus allowing for the use of intensifiers.

There are more conservative dictionaries, such as The Chambers Dictionary, which are not as senstive to current practices.

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[Stella740pl]

Well, "exactly the same" is also an intensifier, just to accentuate things being the same. Very often people say "the same thing" or "essentially the same thing" about not "exactly the same", but only similar things, also to intensify the impression.

 

[SilentAiche]

I think "same thing" and "exact same thing" DO have distinct meanings.

Example of Same Thing: The Mets will beat the Yankees, vs. The Yankees will lose to the Mets. [blue] That's the same damn thing.[/blue]

Example of Exact Same Thing: Those guys who said, at the same time, "Another Higgins!" They said [blue]Exactly the Same Thing."[/blue]

Sorry to borrow your story, John, I just couldn't help it.

BTW - how's the name "Sir Wizard Raleigh" sit with you?

Tim

[blue]_____________________________________________________
If you need immediate assistance, please raise your hand.
If you are outside of Raleigh, raise your hand and say[/blue] [red]Ooh! Ooh![/red]

 

[AnotherHiggins]

I'm with ([gray]H[/gray]) on this one. I think there are two different meanings here. 'Exact same' is used for extra-added-emphasis.

BTW - how's the name "Sir Wizard Raleigh" sit with you?

Are you thinking of taking a(nother) pseudonym?

We should start our own forum: TTNC. We could be charter members. Hell, we might be the only members. But my goal would be to grow in strength until we could rumble with TTUK.

[tt]_____
[blue]-John[/blue]
[/tt][red]"I'm against picketing, but I don't know how to show it."[/red]
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[AnotherHiggins]

SilentAiche, I just noticed.... You used an honest to goodness smiley!

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