Today I listened to a performance by Stephen Lynch in which he said "A public service anouncement from Stephen Lynch" which confused me, a non-native English speaker. Is the usage of "from" correct here? When can I use "from" instead of "by"?
Learn English – When are “from” and “by” interchangeable
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Related Solutions
I think you mostly have it right, but for further exemplification, here are the most common immediately following collocates for each these words from the COCA:
Most common collocates for mandatory
1 TESTING 151
2 MINIMUM 125
3 RETIREMENT 107
4 MINIMUMS 100
5 REPORTING 87
6 SENTENCES 78
7 EVACUATION 74
8 SENTENCING 74
9 DISCLOSURE 63
10 ARBITRATION 56
11 SPENDING 41
12 DRUG 36
13 SENTENCE 35
14 EVACUATIONS 32
15 ARREST 27
16 PRISON 27
17 COUNSELING 26
18 OVERTIME 24
19 RECYCLING 23
20 BUSING 22
21 SANCTIONS 22
22 INSURANCE 21
23 SERVICE 21
24 HIV 20
25 RELEASE 20
Most common collocates for compulsory
1 EDUCATION 86
2 MILITARY 53
3 SCHOOL 31
4 SCHOOLING 21
5 STERILIZATION 19
6 LICENSING 18
7 ATTENDANCE 18
8 NATIONAL 16
9 SERVICE 15
10 MILITIA 14
11 MEMBERSHIP 14
12 JURISDICTION 11
13 HEALTH 11
14 HETEROSEXUALITY 10
15 LABOR 10
16 ARBITRATION 9
17 LICENSE 9
18 FIGURES 9
19 PROCESS 9
20 PUBLIC 9
21 RETIREMENT 8
22 DISPUTE 7
23 ARMY 7
24 VOTING 6
25 INSURANCE 6
Most common collocates for obligatory
1 SERVICE 10
2 NATURE 8
3 STOP 8
4 REFERENCE 6
5 STRUCTURE 5
6 CELIBACY 4
7 EXCHANGE 4
8 VISIT 4
9 READING 4
10 MILITARY 4
11 QUESTION 4
12 SLAP 3
13 NOD 3
14 RETURNS 3
15 BASIC 3
16 PERIOD 3
17 UPON 3
18 PHOTO 3
19 BOOK 3
20 EARLY 3
21 PARTHENOGENESIS 2
22 PREPOSITION 2
23 PILGRIMAGES 2
24 HAGGLING 2
25 ALTRUISTIC 2
As you can see, mandatory and compulsory have much stronger collocates. The collocates for mandatory are more things that are simply required by law, policy, or rule, whereas compulsory is more for specifically things that someone must do (e.g. education, military, sterilization). Obligatory, on the other hand, doesn’t have much of a strong affinity for certain things, and can be used generally for anything that is required by social custom.
Here's my opinion of your alternatives.
"because" is your best choice for clear, correct, unambiguous communication, especially if you want to be understood easily by other non-native speakers.
"since" is acceptable, although it makes your statement ambiguous; the second meaning would be that statement A became true at the time that statement B became true. Example: "I study more often since I enrolled in class" conveys that when you enrolled in class, then you began studying more often. Rule of thumb: prefer "since" when your intent is to convey "from the time that".
"as" is somewhat acceptable, but in your particular statement structure "as" has more useful meanings of "abstractly analogous" or "synchronously". Example: "I like apples as you like oranges" conveys that my liking is similar to your liking, i.e. equivalently strong/weak/notable/etc. Example: "I make dinner as you set the table" conveys that we do these tasks at the same time in the same place. Rule of thumb: prefer "as" when your intent is to convey "sameness".
"for" can be acceptable, although I would never expect to hear it in normal conversation. It would come across as overly-academic, or possibly epic or religious. Example: "We eat well tonight, for tomorrow we go to war." Rule of thumb: prefer "for" when you want to be poetic and inspirational.
Best Answer
Either is possible, with slightly different meaning: the origin (from) or the immediate channel announcing it (by).
Because he himself is speaking it, you might expect by. But here it is a joke based on the common pattern A public service announcement from ... where from is used I think because the announcement may have been transmitted through various channels, but its origin is what matters, rather than the particular agency announcing it.