Over my dead body???

Das Original   Sun Dec 21, 2008 7:55 am GMT
"Over my dead body!"
"Not over my dead body!"

I kind of know the meaning of the expressions but I notice native speakers use both forms in the same context.
However, they are structually opposite sentences.
Which one do you think is correct and why do native speakers get mixed up with the expression?

*I have one more question*
Are they perfectly interchangeable?
"different from" and "different than"...
If they are, which one do you think is more commonly used?
Charlie   Sun Dec 21, 2008 12:23 pm GMT
Google finds 19 million pages on 'different than' and 62 million on 'different from'. However I wouldn't make any significant conclusions from that fact.
Caspian   Sun Dec 21, 2008 8:22 pm GMT
'Over my dead body' is correct. 'Not over my dead body ' is wrong, people may use it, but they are mistaken.

'Different than' is wrong, you must use 'different from'. Also, never 'different to'.
Caspian   Sun Dec 21, 2008 8:39 pm GMT
'Over my dead body' is correct. 'Not over my dead body ' is wrong, people may use it, but they are mistaken.

'Different than' is wrong, you must use 'different from'. Also, never 'different to'.
Super Korean   Mon Dec 22, 2008 7:22 am GMT
I notice many native speakers of English use "different than" these days.
How can you be so sure that "different than" is wrong, Caspian?
Luke   Mon Dec 22, 2008 2:16 pm GMT
<<'Different than' is wrong, you must use 'different from'. Also, never 'different to'>>

No you're wrong there, Caspian. It's "one must use "different from". "you" is wrong there.
Caspian   Mon Dec 22, 2008 7:53 pm GMT
Luke, in English, we use 'you' to mean third person general, as well as 'one'.

Super Korean - Native speakers make many errors. I'm sure because I am a native speaker, and it's a commonly known fact that this is wrong. If you think about 2 objects, going 'to' the object is going towards it, whereas going 'from' the object is going away from it. This way, you can remember that 'different' is away from it, so use 'from', and similar is 'to' the object, close to it, so you use 'to'.

Just because many people make one error, it doesn't make that error correct!
Jim   Mon Dec 22, 2008 8:38 pm GMT
<<Just because many people make one error, it doesn't make that error correct! >>

Actually, in many cases it eventually can make that error correct!

"Different than" is acceptable. Merriam-Webster:

<< Numerous commentators have condemned 'different than' in spite of its use since the 17th century by many of the best-known names in English literature. It is nevertheless standard and is even recommended in many handbooks when followed by a clause, because insisting on 'from' in such instances often produces clumsy or wordy formulations.>>

So, unless you afraid of these 'commentators', feel free to use 'different than' to your heart's content!

There you go, you learned something today!
Another Guest   Tue Dec 23, 2008 12:38 am GMT
"Not even over my dead body" is more emphatic than "over my dead body", not opposite. "Not over my dead body" is a reasonable shortening of "Not even over my dead body". "Over my dead body" means "you can do this, but only if you kill me first". "Not over my dead body" means "even if you were to kill me, you would not be able to do this".

Bartleby on "different than" http://www.bartleby.com/64/C003/098.html
John Cowan   Sun Jan 04, 2009 12:55 pm GMT
"Different than", "different from", and "different to" are all standard: see MWCDEU for details. "Different from" will draw the fewest objections from pedants.