I want to contribute to your discussion of like and
as.
You didn’t mention that the word like also has an
important conjunctive use when it takes on one of the established meanings
of as: “in the way or manner that.?For example, “They
don’t understand John like I do.?As the use of like
as a conjunction has long been a source of contention (some pundits,
for example, in the 19th century regarded it as a vulgarism) I believe
this point is pertinent to your last missive.
David Ziff
davziff2@mac.com