-like

[Neal Whitman]

I wrote about this at length in a post from 2008 (April 1, 2008, to be
precise):
http://literalminded.wordpress.com/2008/04/01/like-it-or-not/

Neal

----- Original Message -----
From: "Victor Steinbok" <aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM>
To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2010 7:17 PM
Subject: -like


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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      -like
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>
> I tend to be fascinated by expressions that others may find perfectly
> ordinary. Fortunately, at least some of these do turn out to be
> interesting to others. So, I am going to try again.
>
> When I see "-like" attached to a word, I usually assume that the item in
> question will be somewhat like the affected object. I am using a broad
> definition of "object" here--if the "object" in question is a noun, than
> the final result will resemble something that is represented by that
> noun (grape-like). If it is an adjective, I expect the item modified by
> this "-like" word to share some qualities with those described by the
> adjective but perhaps not all (human-like). So, when I see
> "watermelon-like", I expect the described object to be somewhat like a
> watermelon. A "watermelon-like seed" would have to be a large, globular
> object that happens to be a seed.
>
> http://bit.ly/9mA3kS
>> The fruit of the strangler figs is a favorite of rainforest monkeys,
>> who swallow the small watermelon-like seeds. Later, they defecate a
>> pile of seed-containing dung that becomes trapped in a corner between
>> two branches of another tree high up in the forest. The warm dung acts
>> as potent fertilizer and the seed germinates into a rootless vine with
>> appendages that slowly crawl up and down along the trunk and branches.
>
> Somehow, despite the exotic context, I don't think the monkeys would be
> capable of swallowing large watermelon-size seeds whole, only to excrete
> them later for sprouting--not that I expect the seeds to be large,
> globular objects. Of course, size and shape are not the only properties
> of the watermelon that may come to mind when describing something as
> "watermelon-like". But, what's the point of identifying something as
> "-like" with second-register properties? Maybe the seeds are not large,
> but striped green (and still round). Whatever... There is another
> possibility.
>
> OED has two subentries--one for nouns and one for adjectives, each
> further subdivided into those turning the expression into an adverb and
> those that don't. Either way, as I mentioned above, the resemblance is
> meant to be attached to whatever is modified by "-like". Not so here.
>
> "Watermelon-like seed", in this case, is a seed that resembles that of a
> watermelon. Given the choice of expressing the "seedness" twice or
> contorting the expression, the author appears to have chosen the
> latter--treating "watermelon" as an adjective. No, really, this is the
> only possibility I see here.
>
>     VS-)
>
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