The modern usages of ‘like’ in English

[+ Charlie]

"the ubiquitous use of impact as a verb, as in "this will impact people greatly" or as an adverb as in "this was very impactful".

This is pedantic of me, but "impactful" is an adjective, not an adverb, in this example. But despite being a pedant, I am not disturbed at all by the morphing of nouns into verbs or other parts of speech, or vice versa. I enjoy the inventiveness of language users.

[mike carey]

Is 'impactful' even a word?

[+ azdr0710]

Is 'impactful' even a word?

 

No! It's a random and meaningless arrangement of letters! Just like 'incentivize' is!

[gallahadesquire]

My personal grief is "gift" as a verb ... but it's been around a few centuries, and either I missed the boat, or it just had gone out of favour. What's wrong with gave?

[LaffingBear]

This is pedantic of me, but "impactful" is an adjective, not an adverb, in this example. But despite being a pedant, I am not disturbed at all by the morphing of nouns into verbs or other parts of speech, or vice versa. I enjoy the inventiveness of language users.

IMPACT is one of the most abused words in our language.

 

The media use it because its more colorful, punchier..... no pun intended.

Its also popular because lazy minds need not decide between effect and affect.

 

By dictionary definition, they're really not interchangeable.

[+ poolboy48220]

Its also popular because lazy minds need not decide between effect and affect.

hahaha. An old co-worker xeroxed a page out of the dictionary, he hadn't read it closely enough to notice it was proving him wrong.

[+ Tarte Gogo]

hahaha. An old co-worker xeroxed a page out of the dictionary, he hadn't read it closely enough to notice it was proving him wrong.

Now let’s watch as people complain about that “xeroxed”.

[+ Tarte Gogo]

My personal grief is "gift" as a verb ... but it's been around a few centuries, and either I missed the boat, or it just had gone out of favour. What's wrong with gave?

Sub-meaning, more specific, therefore more precise.

You can give something that is not a gift. You cannot gift something that is not a gift. So you provide more details about the nature of the transaction when you say “to gift”.

[gallahadesquire]

Sub-meaning, more specific, therefore more precise.

You can give something that is not a gift. You cannot gift something that is not a gift. So you provide more details about the nature of the transaction when you say “to gift”.

Hmmm.

 

Then there is "gift" versus "present." Gift means something you give, remotely (like sending flowers) or not. Present is something you have to be there to ... oi ... present.

[+ Charlie]

I admit that "affect" and "effect" do disturb me, simply because their meanings are different. Most users don't realize that each of them can also be either a noun or a verb, and the way they are used affects their meaning. The written media misuse them all the time. (Which leads me to the observation that writers often don't realize that "media" and "data" require plural verbs.)

[gallahadesquire]

Regarding, like, the original post:

 

Time flies like an arrow.

I get three meanings from this:

1. Time advances swiftly, as does an arrow.
   
2. "Time flies," [sp. Musca Domestica Tempusfugita] have affection for an arrow.
   
3. The imperative "[You] time flies as an arrow [would time flies]."
   

[+ poolboy48220]

Fruit flies like a banana.

[alkan]

The phrase "reach out", used instead of "contact", has spread from the US to the UK now. At first it seemed to carry the implication of "without success" but lately I have heard "attempted to reach out" which seems to muddy the waters. Of course language does and perhaps even should evolve but at the moment of transition it would seem some degree of meaning or precision is lost.

[+ VictorPowers]

Using "like" is just so like annoying.