Like

For other uses, seeLike (disambiguation).

InEnglish,the wordlikehas a very flexible range of uses, ranging from conventional to non-standard. It can be used as anoun,verb,adverb,adjective,preposition,particle,conjunction,hedge,filler,quotative,and semi-suffix.

Uses

Comparisons

Likeis one of the words in the English language that can introduce asimile(astylistic devicecomparing two dissimilar ideas). It can be used as apreposition,as in "He runslikea cheetah "; it can also be used as asuffix,as in "She acts very child-like".It can also be used in non-simile comparisons such as, "She has a doglikeours ".

As a conjunction

Likeis often used in place of thesubordinating conjunctionas,oras if.Examples:

• They looklikethey have been having fun.
• They lookas ifthey have been having fun.

Many people became aware of the two options in 1954, when a famous ad campaign for Winston cigarettes introduced the slogan "Winston tastes good—like a cigarette should."The slogan was criticized for its usage byprescriptivists,the "as" construction being considered more proper. Winston countered with another ad, featuring a woman with greying hair in a bun who insists that ought to be "Winston tastes goodasa cigarette should "and is shouted down by happy cigarette smokers asking" What do you want—good grammar or good taste? "

The appropriateness of its usage as a conjunction is stilldisputed,however. In some circles, it is considered an error to uselikeinstead ofasoras ifin formal prose.

As a noun

Like can be used as anounmeaning "preference" or "kind". Examples:

• She had many likes and dislikes.
• We'll never see the like again.

When used specifically onsocial media,it can refer to interactions with content posted by a user, commonly referred to as "likes" on websites such asTwitterorInstagram.

• That picture you posted got a lot of likes!

As a verb

As averb,likegenerally refers to a fondness for something or someone.

• Ilikeriding my bicycle.

Likecan be used to express a feeling ofattractionbetween two people that is weaker thanlove.It does not necessarily imply a romantic attraction.Example:

• MarclikesDenise.
• I've taken alikingto our new neighbors.

Likecan also be used to indicate a wish for something in a polite manner.Example:

• Would you like a cup of coffee?

As a colloquial adverb

In some regional dialects of English,likemay be used as anadverbialcolloquialismin the constructionbe+like+toinfinitive,meaning "be likely to, be ready to, be on the verge of." Examples:

• He was like to go back next time.
• He was like to go mad.

As the following attest, this construction has a long history in the English language.

• But Clarence had slumped to his knees before I had half-finished, and hewas like togo out of his mind with fright. (Mark Twain, 1889,A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court)
• He saw hewas like toleave such an heir. (Cotton Mather, 1853,Magnalia Christi Americana)
• Hewas like tolose his life in the one [battle] and his liberty in the other [capture], but there was none of his money at stake in either. (Charles MacFarlaneandThomas Napier Thomson,1792,Comprehensive History of England)
• He was in some fear that if he could not bring about the King's desires, hewas like tolose his favor. (Gilbert Burnet, 1679,History of the Reformation of the Church of England)

As a colloquial quotative

Likeis sometimes usedcolloquiallyas aquotativeto introduce a quotation or impersonation. This is also known as "quotation through simile". The word is often used to express that what follows is not an exact quotation but instead gives a general feel for what was said. In this usage,likefunctions in conjunction with a verb, generallybe(but alsosay,think,etc.), as in the following examples:

• He was like, "I'll be there in five minutes."
• She was like, "You need to leave the room right now!"

Likecan also be used to paraphrase an implicitly unspoken idea or sentiment:

• I was like, "Who do they think they are?"

The marking ofpast tenseis often omitted (comparehistorical present):

• They told me all sorts of terrible things, and I'm like "Forget it then."

It is also sometimes used to introduce non-verbal mimetic performances, e.g., facial expressions, hand gestures, body movement, as well as sounds and noises:

• I was like [speaker rolls eyes].
• The car was like, "vroom!"

The use oflikeas a quotative is known to have been around since at least the 1980s.

As a discourse particle, filler or hedge

History

The wordlikehas developed several non-traditional uses in informal speech. Especially since the late 20th century onward, it has appeared, in addition to its traditional uses, as acolloquialismacross all dialects of spoken English, serving as adiscourse particle,signalling either ahedgeindicating uncertainty, or alternatively a marker offocussignalling that what follows is new informationAlthough these particular colloquial uses oflikebecame widespread among young students in the 1980s, its use as a filler is a fairly old regional practice inWelsh Englishand in Scotland; it was used similarly at least as early as the 19th century. It is traditionally, though not quite every time, used to finish a sentence in the Northern English dialectGeordie.It may also be used in a systemic format to allow individuals to introduce what they say, how they say and think.

Despite such prevalence in modern-day spoken English, these colloquial usages oflikerarely appear in writing (unless the writer is deliberately trying to replicate colloquial dialogue) and they have long been stigmatized in formal speech or inhigh culturalorhigh socialsettings. Furthermore, this use oflikeseems to appear most commonly, in particular, among people who were children andadolescentsin the 1980s, while less so, or not at all, among people who were already middle-aged or elderly at that time. One suggested explanation was that younger English speakers were still developing theirlinguistic competence,and,metalinguisticallywishing to express ideas without sounding too confident, certain, or assertive, useliketo fulfill this purpose in the cases where they were using "like" as a hedge.

Inpop culture,such colloquial applications oflike(especially in verbal excess) are commonly and often comedically associated withValley girls,as made famous through the song "Valley Girl" byFrank Zappa,released in 1982, and the film of the same name, released in the following year. The stereotyped "valley girl" language is an exaggeration of the variants ofCalifornia Englishspoken by people who were young in the 1980s.

This non-traditional usage of the word has been around at least since the 1950s, introduced through beat (orbeatnik) and jazz culture. The beatnik characterMaynard G. Krebs(Bob Denver) in the popularDobie GillisTV series of 1959-1963 brought the expression to prominence; this was reinforced in later decades by the character ofShaggyonScooby-Doo(who was based on Krebs).

Very early use of this locutioncan be seen in a New Yorker cartoon of 15 September 1928, in which two young ladies are discussing a man's workplace: "What's he got – an awfice?" "No, he's got like a loft."

It is also used in the 1962 novelA Clockwork Orangeby the narrator as part of his teenage slang and in theTop Catcartoon series from 1961 to 1962 by the jazz beatnik type characters.

A commoneye dialectspelling islyk.

Examples

Likecan be used in much the same way as "um..." or "er..." as adiscourse particle.It has become common especially among North American teenagers to use the word "like" in this way, as in Valspeak. For example:

• I, like, don't know what to do.

It is also becoming more often used (East CoastScottish English,Northern England English,Hiberno-EnglishandWelsh Englishin particular) at the end of a sentence, as an alternative toyou know.This usage is sometimes considered to be a colloquialinterjectionand it implies a desire to remain calm and defuse tension:

• I didn't say anything, like.
• Just be cool, like.

Use oflikeas afillerhas a long history in Scots English, as inRobert Louis Stevenson's 1886 novelKidnapped:

"What'll like be your business, mannie?"
"What's like wrong with him?" said she at last.

Likecan be used ashedgeto indicate that the following phrase will be an approximation or exaggeration, or that the following words may not be quite right, but are close enough. It may indicate that the phrase in which it appears is to be taken metaphorically or as ahyperbole.This use oflikeis sometimes regarded asadverbial,aslikeis oftensynonymoushere with adverbial phrases of approximation, such as "almost" or "more or less". Examples:

• I have, like, no money left.
• The restaurant is only, like, five miles from here.
• I, like, almost died!

Conversely,likemay also be used to indicate a counterexpectation to the speaker, or to indicate certainty regarding the following phrase.Examples:

• There was, like, a living kitten in the box!
• This is, like, the only way to solve the problem.
• I, like, know what I'm doing, okay?

In the UK reality television seriesLove Islandthe word 'like' has been used an average of 300 times per episode, much to the annoyance of viewers.

See also

• Like button

Bibliography

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External links

• SeeFleischman (1998)(JSTOR30249153) for a parallel discussion oflikeand the similar discourse particlegenrein French.