A Disadvantaged Start Hurts Boys More Than Girls
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Re: A Disadvantaged Start Hurts Boys More Than Girls
#2Okay, waaaaay off topic (but still from the article!):
> Low-income families are often led by single mothers, which has been found to affect boys differently than girls.
"Differently than"? This is the New York Times. I expect better. (For those who don't get it, the snooty among us prefer "differently from".)
A quick search shows any number of occurrences of this jarring bit of word choice in the NY Times of late: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=site%3Anytimes.com+%22different+th...
So, does this mean that "different than" is officially legal in the NYT? Or does it mean that the bean counters & cost cutters at a once great paper have fired everyone who cares about grammar & usage?
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EDIT. It appears that, officially, they frown just a bit on "different than", but it isn't really a stern frown.
From The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage, 1999, page 107:
> different. To satisfy the most exacting readers, use different with from, in front of a noun: Newspaper writing is different from poetry. When different unavoidably figures in a comparison with a full clause (including its own verb), different than is accepted by many authorities: Newspaper writing is different than it was 25 years ago. But if a graceful change can convert the phrasing to allow different from, it should be made: Newspaper writing is different from what it was 25 years ago.
Google Books link: https://books.google.com/books?id=CnwIVkAQgFwC&q=different+t...
Re: A Disadvantaged Start Hurts Boys More Than Girls
#3I thought only women are allowed to be victims
Re: A Disadvantaged Start Hurts Boys More Than Girls
#4Okay, waaaaay off topic (but still from the article!): > Low-income families are often led by single mothers, which has been found to affect boys differently than girls. "Differently than"? This is the New York Times . I expect better. (For those who don't get it, the snooty among us prefer "differently from".) A quick search shows any number of occurrences of this jarring bit of word choice in the NY Times of late:…
That's the least of that sentence's problems. A more egregious issue is the ambiguous antecedent. What has been found to affect boys differently? Low-income families, single mothers, being raised by single mothers?
It verges on illiterate.
Re: A Disadvantaged Start Hurts Boys More Than Girls
#5Okay, waaaaay off topic (but still from the article!): > Low-income families are often led by single mothers, which has been found to affect boys differently than girls. "Differently than"? This is the New York Times . I expect better. (For those who don't get it, the snooty among us prefer "differently from".) A quick search shows any number of occurrences of this jarring bit of word choice in the NY Times of late:…
In this case "than" seems correct because it's short for "affect boys differently than [it affects] girls", right?
In order to re-order that to use "from" you'd have to do something like "... the effect of which upon boys has been found to be different from that upon girls."
Re: A Disadvantaged Start Hurts Boys More Than Girls
#6Glad that there's a discussion. It would help humanity to also give enough focus on boy child development so that we could save their future, avoid the crimes they commit and their languishing in jails.
Re: A Disadvantaged Start Hurts Boys More Than Girls
#7Okay, waaaaay off topic (but still from the article!): > Low-income families are often led by single mothers, which has been found to affect boys differently than girls. "Differently than"? This is the New York Times . I expect better. (For those who don't get it, the snooty among us prefer "differently from".) A quick search shows any number of occurrences of this jarring bit of word choice in the NY Times of late:…
u rite good. learn me some words?
Re: A Disadvantaged Start Hurts Boys More Than Girls
#8Okay, waaaaay off topic (but still from the article!): > Low-income families are often led by single mothers, which has been found to affect boys differently than girls. "Differently than"? This is the New York Times . I expect better. (For those who don't get it, the snooty among us prefer "differently from".) A quick search shows any number of occurrences of this jarring bit of word choice in the NY Times of late:…
In this case "than" seems correct because it's short for "affect boys differently than [it affects] girls", right? In order to re-order that to use "from" you'd have to do something like "... the effect of which upon boys has been found to be different from that upon girls."
[deleted]
Re: A Disadvantaged Start Hurts Boys More Than Girls
#9Glad that there's a discussion. It would help humanity to also give enough focus on boy child development so that we could save their future, avoid the crimes they commit and their languishing in jails.
Feminist?
Re: A Disadvantaged Start Hurts Boys More Than Girls
#10Glad that there's a discussion. It would help humanity to also give enough focus on boy child development so that we could save their future, avoid the crimes they commit and their languishing in jails.
I've always wondered how much of the gap comes from a near total lack of male teachers in K-5.