One person said it should be “… than I”; the other said it was okay as written. So to paraphrase, here’s the question: “Is A wrong, or is B wrong?”

And here’s our answer: “No.”

The email was signed “Confused foreigner,” but native speakers don’t always agree on an answer. Some consider “than” a conjunction, and might say that the sentence is a shortened form of one that would read something like “She is smarter than [I am].” We use lots of such elliptical sentences, leaving out parts we don’t consider necessary.

But those who say “than” is a preposition would argue that “me” would be needed (as its object). Of course the wisest people (those who agree with us) take the middle ground.

Here’s what Webster's Dictionary of English Usage says: “A dispute over whether ‘than’ is a preposition or a conjunction has been going on now for more than two centuries.”

And after about a page of other comments and examples, it adds this: “To conclude: William Ward had it right in 1765. ‘Than’ is both a preposition and a conjunction. In spite of much opinion to the contrary, the preposition has never been wrong.”

So as we told our confused friend, either is correct—you do it your way, let others do it their way. Or, if you're working in an organization that puts a high value on consistency, choose one way—arbitrarily, if necessary—and stick with it.

We signed it “Lots of luck, and welcome to the world of never-ending arguments over English usage.” And a fun place it can be, unless you take such disputes too seriously. Remember, it ain’t world peace.