is different, a far cry, far from

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

Hello

I wonder if the three options are OK in the sentence?

What you said to me…from what you said to my friend on the phone.

A- is different
B- a far cry
C- far

Thanks a lot

2

As both verbs are past tense (said) then you would need the past tense for these:

was different to what you said
was a far cry from what you said
was far from what you said

3

Why is it ‘different to’?

4

If my memory serves me well, the backshift\no backshift subject was once discussed here and a native called Dozy said people nowadays are reluctant to backshift:
If the statement is generally true (a) or still true at the moment of reporting (b).
Could it be the case?..

5

The tenses here are variable in this context and ‘is’ will do in all three. ‘Different from’ and ‘similar to’ are the conventional uses.