Some phrases come out of people’s mouths so often that we don’t even stop to question them anymore. The wording of “Sooner Rather Than Later” vs. “Sooner Than Later” is one such phrase, isn’t it?
One of them is the standard, and one of them is perhaps a bit lazy. Do you know the difference?
I bet you can guess.
“Sooner rather than later” is the standard phrase, meaning without much delay or in the near future.
I hope folks learn this one “sooner rather than later” before they put it into a job application or college essay. Yes, it’s understood either way, and it may have become quite common; however, just because a wording is commonly used doesn’t mean it’s appropriate in all situations.
Think about “could care less” vs. “couldn’t care less” if you need a comparison. Both are said, but only one actually make sense. (Oooh, not sure? Get a Grip on Your Grammar has your answer!)
Just think about it. If you want something, you might prefer it soon, as in the near future, instead of–or rather than–later. It’s a logical wording.
“Sooner than later,” on the other hand, doesn’t quite make sense. If you try to fix it with “sooner then later,” you might be getting closer to logical, but you’re still a bit off from the correct phrase.
Now, the other, similar wording that might be causing all the trouble is “sooner or later.” Short, sweet, and to the point, here’s a phrase that’s just three words long and hundreds of years older than our dear “sooner rather than later” phrase.
Do they share first and last words? Indeed they do, but that doesn’t mean that one three-word phrase should be matched with another three-word phrase, even if our brains trick us into feeling like it’s okay.
If you’re curious, an analysis of the use of these three phrases (“sooner or later” vs. “sooner rather than later” vs. “sooner than later”) further captures what is standard against what is trickling into our common language. (Thanks for this, Google Ngram.)
Language use is a skill and an art, but it’s a skill and an art that everyone should pursue. Questioning what comes out of our mouths before it’s said is a good skill for many reasons.
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