Not too long ago, Apple Computer used the phrase "Think Different" as an ad slogan. Is this a grammatical error (that is, it should be "Think Differently"), or are they trying to say something else (and what would it be)?
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28Apple doesn't feel the need to be backward compatible with the grammar you are used to.– JohnFxSep 6, 2010 at 21:08
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1@JohnFx Lol!! Good one.– KrisJan 23, 2012 at 7:52
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1Think different. You'll see the logic.– KrisJan 23, 2012 at 7:57
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4Think different is probably a variation on the colloquial expression think big, which is not the normal way we use the verb think. The other slogan is perfectly normal syntactically, but a bit awkward because of the overly long subject, the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world. And by the way, I don't think advertising is amazing at all, I find it dull and of low quality; it's nothing like e.g. good literature or cabaret.– Cerberus - Reinstate MonicaSep 20, 2014 at 18:26
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7 Answers
Merriam-Webster claim that different as an adverb dates at least as far back as 1744.
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1I knew I could count on you to come in with a descriptivist-supporting factoid. You don't, perchance, use a Mac? :-)– ChrisSep 7, 2010 at 0:35
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3@Chris I don’t write the Merriam-Webster dictionary, man—I just read it. They don’t give citations for the 1744 usage, but I’m sure they have them. And yes I do use a Mac but I would have left the same answer no matter who had used different as an adverb. ;-)– nohat ♦Sep 7, 2010 at 1:07
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5There may exist old instances of the usage, but when Apple introduced the slogan it was still sufficiently unconventional grammar to invite comment. Sep 7, 2010 at 1:21
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2@ShreevatsaR good point. Ad agencies have on occasion done deliberately assailable things with language and grammar to invite comment. Cf. “Winston tastes good like a cigarette should”– nohat ♦Sep 7, 2010 at 1:51
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1The 3rd edition OED antedates M-W with a citation from 1588: R. Parke tr. J. G. de Mendoza Hist. Kingdome of China 173 — They came from countries so farre off, and apparelled verie different [Sp. diferente] from that they do vse, or otherwise haue seene. They also note that the 1st edition had remarked ‘Now only in uneducated use.’ but that seems no longer to apply, given how their most recent citation is from the Washington Post from 2012. I wonder whether this version is as movable as adverbs normally are, though. Seems not to be.– tchrist ♦Jul 19, 2019 at 21:43
Everyone's assuming that this is "think differently" with the -ly dropped off, but note that there are also formations like think fruit or think pink, and "think different" could belong to that group. In other words "What should I think about this product?" "Think (that it is) different".
Anyway, "think differently" is a terrible slogan.
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1I always thought that a phrasing like that should have quotes... Think "Different", but I think you might be on the right track.– ChrisSep 7, 2010 at 2:54
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+1 @Jonik Actually it should be -1 to all those who failed to see it for what it is.– KrisJan 23, 2012 at 7:55
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"think differently" is a terrible slogan: Don't tell Lisa Simpson. Feb 24, 2016 at 16:23 -
Well, it's certainly not the first time an adjective is used as an adverb in American English. I'd call it informal, but not necessarily ungrammatical.
One possibility we're forgetting here is the that the adjective may be a substantive adjective. Substantive adjectives are adjectives which are used alone without the noun they are describing. For example, good, bad, and ugly in this sentence, 'The good, the bad, and the ugly, which is really, 'The good people, the bad people, and the ugly people.'
In this case, Apple's slogan, 'Think different', would be read 'Think different things', and is thus a perfectly grammatical.
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3"The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" is about three people. Clint is good, Van Cleef ("Angel Eyes") is bad, and Eli Wallach (Tuco) is ugly.– deleteSep 7, 2010 at 13:33
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It could be about only three people, but the phrase could also be construed to mean all good, bad, and ugly people here, e.g., 'At our convention, we had the good, the bad, and the ugly.' Sep 8, 2010 at 1:15
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This usage is different. Nominal ('substantive') adjectives are used with the definite article (the poor, the good, the underprivileged, the opposite). 'Think different' is modeled on 'buy wise', with a flat adverb. Apr 13, 2015 at 8:20
Apple did not mean "think differently". That is, they are not suggesting that you think in a different way. They really meant "think different", that is, rather than thinking about the things you usually think about, think about things that are different.
An analogous slogan might be, "Thinking about your opportunities as a high school graduate? Think college."
answered Jan 19, 2012 at 4:28
"Think differently" would mean: Please think in a way that is different from the way that other people are thinking. "Think different" means: Think about things that are different, or how to do things that are different. The slogan doesn't tell you how to think, but what to think.
If the message is taken to mean:
Think "different".
Then it could be grammatically incorrect. Just not sure I can say this is "punctuationally" correct, but from a logo/branding/marketing point of view the use of punctuation may take something away from the impact of the message even if making the intention of the message unclear.
