Craig et al.

It's possible that the traditional like-as-adjective interpretation was
driven partly by traditional grammars' implicit rejection of the idea that
prepositional phrases could act as subject complements. "A cantaloupe is a
muskmelon" and "A cantaloupe is like a muskmelon" seem roughly similar,
suggesting "like a muskmelon" is in about the same relation to "is" as is "a
muskmelon." But if PPs can't be subject complements, and especially if the
terms you're actually using are "predicate noun" and "predicate adjective,"
you can't view "like" as a preposition without creating a contradiction.

I'm wanting to treat it as prepositional, but that's partly because I'm
happy with the notion of PPs as SCs. Adverb placement seems to go well with
that interpretation, too:

A cantaloupe is, unsurprisingly, like a muskmelon.
?A cantaloupe is like, unsurprisingly, a muskmelon.

The cantaloupe is actually like a watermelon.
?The cantalouple is like actually a watermelon

The cantaloupe is, unsurprisingly, on the table.
?The cantaloupe is on, unsurprisingly, the table.
 
(That third one works if you put "Dude,..." at the beginning -- but that's,
like, actually a different 'like').

--- Bill Spruiell
Dept. of English
Central Michigan University

On 9/15/10 3:07 PM, "Stahlke, Herbert F.W." <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Craig,
> 
> My first reaction was that this use of "like" was adjectival, but since you
> want a traditional treatment I checked the OED Online and Merriam  Webster
> Dictionary Online.  Both treat as an adjective, although MW doesn't have an
> example with BE.
> 
> Herb
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Craig Hancock
> Sent: Wednesday, September 15, 2010 2:52 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: like
> 
>     I am curious about how traditional grammar handles "like" in a sentence
> like "One of these things is not like the others." (I know; Sesame Street).
>    My instinct is to say "like the others" is prepositional phrase, complement
> to "is", therefore referring back (adjectivally?) to "One of these things."
> Would that be standard?
>    If it can be easily replaced by "resembles" (or "doesn't resemble"), does
> that mean "be like" is shading into a verb like status with "the others" as
> object? Are we OK with flexible boundaries around our categories?
> 
> Craig
> 
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