mrussell
At the Start
In this great shifting language, English, there are many direct imports suitably modified for ease of use. I refer of course to Greek, Latin and French, which have swirled in and joined the underlying foundation of Anglo-Saxon. These are the major contributors to this rich, changing language.
Inevitably there are modulations carried out within the language, too. These are not new imports but new ways of using what's already present.
We are now seeing the displacement of the word 'as'; it's being supplanted by 'like'. In a way, we could have expected the grammar police -- of whom the numbers are rather less than, say, 20 years ago -- to intervene, pointing out the laxity of using a lazy and inappropriate 'like' in place of the two-lettered, many faceted word which plays the role of adverb, conjunction and preposition (even occasionally a pronoun.) But I don't think the grammar police really have much influence; they're noisy, and correct in a way, but powerless.
We can't justly deny that 'like' has a similar variety of roles -- it's just that the present upsurge in its usage is something I regret, because it's at the expense of 'as'.
Consider what sounds better:
as drunk as a lord -- or -- drunk like a lord
as sweet as honey -- or -- sweet like honey
as fast as the wind -- or -- fast like the wind
and so on.
There's a rhythm available when using 'as' that's lacking otherwise. The other word has an undoubted punchiness but there's a time and a place for that and it's not fit for using all the time and everywhere.
As the title says, this is by way of a lament for 'as'.
There is no stemming the tide here; no rescue for 'as': it will go the way of other fine words as popular usage overwhelms it. That's simply how English works, after all.
The age-old complaint of 'the world going to the dogs' (traced back I think to Assyrian times) neatly shows how some changes get regretted, at least by those prepared to write about them!
As for me, I shall continue to use it as and when I can. I shall be extra vigilant in looking for alternatives to 'like' -- because I do not like its vulgar pushing in where a real lady of a word was quietly serving all along.
Regards
Inevitably there are modulations carried out within the language, too. These are not new imports but new ways of using what's already present.
We are now seeing the displacement of the word 'as'; it's being supplanted by 'like'. In a way, we could have expected the grammar police -- of whom the numbers are rather less than, say, 20 years ago -- to intervene, pointing out the laxity of using a lazy and inappropriate 'like' in place of the two-lettered, many faceted word which plays the role of adverb, conjunction and preposition (even occasionally a pronoun.) But I don't think the grammar police really have much influence; they're noisy, and correct in a way, but powerless.
We can't justly deny that 'like' has a similar variety of roles -- it's just that the present upsurge in its usage is something I regret, because it's at the expense of 'as'.
Consider what sounds better:
as drunk as a lord -- or -- drunk like a lord
as sweet as honey -- or -- sweet like honey
as fast as the wind -- or -- fast like the wind
and so on.
There's a rhythm available when using 'as' that's lacking otherwise. The other word has an undoubted punchiness but there's a time and a place for that and it's not fit for using all the time and everywhere.
As the title says, this is by way of a lament for 'as'.
There is no stemming the tide here; no rescue for 'as': it will go the way of other fine words as popular usage overwhelms it. That's simply how English works, after all.
The age-old complaint of 'the world going to the dogs' (traced back I think to Assyrian times) neatly shows how some changes get regretted, at least by those prepared to write about them!
As for me, I shall continue to use it as and when I can. I shall be extra vigilant in looking for alternatives to 'like' -- because I do not like its vulgar pushing in where a real lady of a word was quietly serving all along.
Regards
