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Originally Posted by ChuckElias
Interesting. I'm not sure my usage falls under the "slang" uses he mentions, but it's interesting to consider. I was using "like" to mean "akin to" (not really a simile), which I thought would be correct. I'd like to hear Juulie's thoughts on it.
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I checked in a couple of my old grammar books from college, and I think both would agree that
barks like a dog is grammatically correct:
The Holt Handbook, 4th Edition, says:
"When used as a preposition,
as indicates equivalency or identity [my emphasis]. 'After classes he works
as a manager of a fast-food restaurant'.
"
Like, however,
indicates resemblance but never identity [my emphasis]. 'Writers
like Carl Sandburg appear once in a generation.'"
Barks like a dog clearly indicates resemblance, not equivalency or identity.
The Hodges' Harbrace College Handbook, 7th Edition, says:
"In general usage,
like functions as a preposition;
as and
as if (or
as though) function as conjunctions. Although widely used in conversation and in public speaking,
like as a conjunction is still controversial in a formal context....In such elliptical construcions as the following, however, the conjunction
like is appropriate, even in formal context. 'He is attracted to blondes
like a moth to lights.'" This again indicates resemblance, not equivalency or identity.
Hodges' Harbrace defines a preposition as "a function word that always has an object, which is usually a noun or a pronoun; the preposition with its object (and any modifiers) is called a prepositional phrase." In
barks like a dog,
dog is the object of the prepositional phrase and
like is the preposition (function word) that describes the barking.
Of course, I suspect no one really give a sh!t.
