like = 'It goes without saying that...not'

[Jonathan Lighter]

OED doesn't cover this ironic sentence-header, which one now hears
frequently. (I can't even guess as to when I first notice it, though I'll
SWAG it, tentatively, to the late '70s or so.)

A splendid example occurs in the current TV commercial when Progressive Flo
magically appears on a stormy roadside to assist a hapless insuree:

HE: I knew you'd come.

SHE (reprovingly, with a hint of interrogation):  Like I could stay away?

Watch it here:
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=youtube+progressive+flo&mid=A2E9EBE8D441C98551A3A2E9EBE8D441C98551A3&view=detail&FORM=VIRE3

Thirty-seventh century researchers may have a hard time explaining such a
construction.

JL

--
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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