WHEN YOU NEED OTHER OR ELSE
When the person or object you are comparing is part of a group, you need to include the word other to prevent another kind of confusion.
Confusing: Roger is a better tuba player than any boy in his class.
Improved: Roger is a better tuba player than any other boy in his class.
The problem is subtle, which is why the mistake is made so often. Without the word other clarifying that Roger is included in the group boys in his class, it would seem that Roger is in fact a girl. And Roger is an unusual name for a girl.
I’ll give a few more examples in case this isn’t clear yet.
Sarah is more shy than any student in class.
This sounds like Sarah is being compared to students in the class, but she isn’t a student herself. If she is a student, it should go like this:
Sarah is more shy than any other student in class.
Else does a similar job. It’s used with pronouns like anyone, somebody, or no one
Sarah is more shy than any student in class.
This sounds like Sarah is being compared to students in the class, but she isn’t a student herself. If she is a student, it should go like this:
Sarah is more shy than any other student in class.
Source :
https://blog.writeathome.com/index.php/2 ... r-or-else/My side of the comparison.
When you say any side or sides , then you are including the compared diagonal line also with other sides. That means you are comparing diagonal with the diagonal itself> Threfore, then a diagonal cannot be longer than the same diagonal. When you include the word 'other' you are eliminating the aberration of self-comparison.