different??

N

not pedantic

Why does the mail merge, "Edit Address Block" function
say "Only include the country/region if different than"?
There's no such thing as "different *than*", I think it
means "different *from*". Perhaps Microsoft should run a
Grammar Check on their dialog boxes
 
P

Peter Jamieson

I think it sounds awkward too. But I find it hard to get worked up about
things that sound wrong but are in fact comprehensible, except for the fact
that it makes things harder for users whose mother tongue is not English.
But "different to" and different than are listed in my (British English)
dictionary whereas "different than" is listed as "not now", which I assume
indicates that it was in use at one time.
 
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