A Hobby Horse I Haven’t Mentioned Since 2020
It’s about using “like” for “said.”
I don’t know whether it drives parents nuts, but it drives at least this tech writer nuts. Note that they’re using better verbs, too.
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In Which I Get to be a Grammar Nazi
I’ll let the grammar nazi, Mike Peterson, do the talking today. Here’s the comic, an unsigned New Yorker item:
“Whoever drew it, it got a chuckle, but it also got a flinch for something unrelated to the point of the gag.
“While I try not to be a grammar nazi, those signs bug me. There are rules about speculation against fact — Tevye sings “If I were a rich man,” not “if I was a rich man” — and the signs should read “Drive as if your child lived here.”
“Dagnabbit.
“I like the concept, but I correct it in my mind every time I go past one, and they’re everywhere.”
https://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2023/05/25/csotd-the-dagnabbit-files/
Writing Tips 1
A while back I worked at Bank of America. My area had a lot of folks for whom English was their second language. I prepared a series of writing tips for them. Here is the first one:
Should you use “like” or “such as”?
- “Like” means “similar to, but not exact”
- “Such as” means “here’s an actual example”
Bad: “…lines of business like consumer banking and small business banking.”
This means something similar to these, but not actually them.
Good: “…lines of business such as consumer banking and small business banking.”
“Consumer” and “small business” are actual examples, the real thing.
So—When you want to give an example of the real thing, use “such as,” even though it’s slightly longer than “like.”
Good Use of “Lie,” Bad Use of “Like”
Top of the cartoon, he’s quoting, but that use of “lie” is correct. You don’t lay down, you lie down.
But we curmudgeons consider using “[be] like” to mean “say” is bad English. Say “say.”
Harrumpf.
Such As or Like?
Here’s a good example of the difference.
When you give an example, use “such as” when you’re describing something similar but not the same, use”like.”
(Yes, English has other uses for “like.”)
This post first appeared on The Writing Rag.
