I Remember

article by PAUL LIPE

I REMEMBER, with great appreciation, excellent teachers who instructed me in the formative  years of my education. They taught me things and principles that I am still using in my advance years. One of the things they taught me was to learn by observing others. Then in my seminary training I was taught to listen to other preachers, looking for errors or strengths that could improve my teaching. The result is that when I hear something that seems to be a grammatical error, a “bell” goes off in my mind. With your approval let me give you a test to demonstrate what I mean. Which of these is correct grammar? “I am different from my son “ or “I am different than my son.” Which is correct? The truth is, all of you are correct because both expressions have been made acceptable by those who have authority to make such decisions. For years and years, it was acceptable to say “different from,” but more recently because it was so widely used. “Different than” has become approved grammar.

Though this change has been made, my mind still rings a bell when I hear someone say “ Different than.” My problem is that the bell goes off for  “Different than” I have lived a long time and my bell is about worn out. 

For instance,  if I would say, I am different from my son, Jonathan: when Jonathan was in high school two years of athletics, he was selected as the “ATHLETE OF THE YEAR” for Delhi High School. I never played high school sports, so in this area I am “Different from” my son. In addition, Johnathan was happy, full of joy student and I was more serious about studies. Though I never became an athlete he did settle down and became a good student. If any of the above sentences someone would substitute “than” for “from,” the sound of the bell would probably be heard in my home state of North Carolina.

The problem is that acceptable usage is being determined by the frequency of use rather than long-time principles. When this happens usually there shouldn’t be a great impact. But sometimes the results are not as acceptable. There is one way in which I have noticed a change rather than what is right. There has been a tremendous use of profanity in the news media, as though profanity strengthens one’s position. This is especially true in the realm of politics, and to me, this is not a good change. Just because something is used frequently shouldn’t give it credence in public discussion. Leadership should have language that can make a point rather than profanity which one thinks makes a point. I am old and old-fashioned hopefully things that I oppose would be things that make my words pleasing to God and most of the readers of this magazine.

But if God has a bell, let us not ring it just because others do.