word choice - "A disliking of" vs. "a disliking for"


I was having a conversation with a friend, telling him that over time, I've started to dislike a certain genre of music:



I've grown a strong disliking for Dubstep.



As though my liking for Dubstep has gradually decreased over a set period of time. Now, I'm starting to question whether the use of for is correct. Have I grown a strong disliking for Dubstep, or have I grown a strong disliking of Dubstep? They both seem proper to me, but I'd like to be sure.


Is there a difference between the two?



Answer



First, I think I would use the noun dislike.


And then it seems to be a matter of whether you speak British English or talk American English. Compare this NGram for American English: enter image description here


and this for British English: enter image description here



Interestingly, if you remove the "a strong" from the search terms, you get [as Barrie England points out in his answer and zpletan in his comment], a more pronounced preference for dislike of, especially in British English. If you search for "a dislike of/for", adding the article a, a dislike of is still preferred but only by a slim margin in American English. (I didn't add those graphs, but you can create the NGram using the links provided.)


Compare this NGram of dislike of/for in American English enter image description here


And this NGram of dislike of/for in British English: enter image description here


The bottom line is that dislike of is preferred, but both dislike of and dislike for are used, understandable, and mean the same thing. (That is, you are no longer fond of Dubstep.)


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