according to vs regarding

[corum]

Hello

Look at this, please:
"Those people behave differently regarding where they live."

That 'regarding', is it not out of place, in your opinion? And should it not be replaced with 'according to' for the sentence to make sense?

I compared these:

1. Those people are different regarding where they live.
2. Those people are different according to where they live.

In #1, it says one difference between those people is their residences.
In #2, it says people vary in accordance with the location of their residences.

As many as three English teachers -- all three are my colleagues -- do not agree with me (and I am surprised no end). Do you?

 

[Raymott]

Hello

Look at this, please:
"Those people behave differently regarding where they live."

That 'regarding', is it not out of place, in your opinion?
Yes, I agree that it's not used correctly.

And should it not be replaced with 'according to' for the sentence to make sense?
Yes, it should (or "depending on", or something else appropriate).

Left as is, the sentence means to me that those people behave differently depending on where they are living at the given moment,
To me, "depending on" means close enough to "according to" here.
Where they live affects their behaviour. I think that's the intended meaning.
What it actually says (if one had to attribute a meaning) is that the people have different opinions about where they live, and this leads them to behave differently. They might all live in the same place, but while A is proud of living there, B is ashamed of it.

which, given the context from where the sentence was taken, is not the default reading, the intended meaning.

I compared these:

1. Those people are different regarding where they live.
2. Those people are different according to where they live.

In #1, it says the difference between those people is their residences.
In #2, it says people are different owing to the fact that they come from different places.
That's right.
As many as three English teachers -- all three are my colleagues -- do not agree with me (and I am surprised no end). Do you?
I'm not necessarily surprised. What sort of English teachers do you hang around with? Wasn't it you who made the "blind leading the blind" comment about certain English teachers?

R.

 

[corum]

Muchas gracias, senior Raymott! One of them has a PhD in English teaching. You know, just when I think I have never learnt English in a class environment and that I am a NNES...