"like" avoidance/correction

[sagehen]

>John Baker noted that:
>>
>>         MWDEU notes the hypercorrective tendency of some writers to
>> avoid "like" even as a preposition.
>
>I wonder if people avoid "like" in some settings because it can also be a
>verb.
>
>Complete the sentence: "Some people like me ..."
>
>a) feel strongly about the president.
>b) and some don't.
>
>Of course, if I wanted a) I would have put a comma after "people" but this
>distinction is lost in speech.
>
>"Like" may just be problematic, rather the way "sex" has been replaced by
>"gender" even when the biological, not the bawdy, meaning of the former is
>intended.
>
>Marc Sacks
>msacks at theworld.com
 ~~~~~~~~
I think the distinction most people would make between "sex" & "gender" is
not that one is biological & t'other bawdy, but that "sex" can be both
biological & bawdy, while "gender" has more to do with identity,
socialization & assigned roles.
AM

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