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yuko
16 Dec 2013

  • Japanese
  • English (US)
  • Simplified Chinese (China)
Question about English (US)

Which to each his own or each to his own sounds the most natural?

I first learned 'to each his own' but later found in the internet that 'each to his own' is used too.

Are all these two correct or is the one more natural or authentic than the other?
If they both are correct, I guess it is a very rare case with the English language, which is often very strict in word order.

Thanks for your help!
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shinseikatsu
18 Dec 2013

  • English (US)

Answer to each his own

In American English, "to each his own" and "each to his own" would probably mean different things. It depends on the situation. "To each his own" is most commonly used as a statement of disbelief or amazement. For example:
Bill says to Tom: "Did you hear that Jeff eats tires instead of pizza?"
Tom, surprised, says to Bill: "To each his own, I suppose."

In the above example, Tom is meaning "I wouldn't want to eat a tire. But if that's what he wants to do, I guess that's ok for him..."

I think that "Each to his own" sounds more like a description of an action taking place. For example:
"The boys went off to bed, each to his own room."

Be aware that sometimes the same sayings have different meanings in different English-speaking countries. Some American English phrases mean different things in British English, for example. My interpretations above are for American English.

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