Likeable=comparable?

[Alice Faber]

 From a story by Mike Zeisberger, posted at
<http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Hockey/NHL/Toronto/2007/03/04/3695074-sun.html>

  "I feel it was likeable with the Drury hit and I pretty much go along
with the league's decision," Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said of the Janssen
suspension.

I have no idea how to classify this blend, but, from context, he clearly
means "comparable with" ("comparable to?"). Given that "likeable" is a
real word, incorporating a different sense of "like", I'm not about to
test out my Google-fu. But it does seem that Ruff is missing that
"likeable" *is* built on verbal "like", not on adjectival "like".
--
=======================================================================
Alice Faber                                   faber at haskins.yale.edu
Haskins Laboratories                          tel: (203) 865-6163 x258
New Haven, CT 06511 USA                       fax (203) 865-8963

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org