Share and Snare a 'Like'

Today, two meaty questions involving comparison ...

Jeanette Lendl of Delmont, Pennsylvania, isn't sure about this sentence from an ad: "Ensure has protein, like in meat."

"This sounds stilted to me," she writes. "Is it correct? Should the word be 'as'?"

Advantage Lendl. The use of "like" followed by a prepositional phrase is indeed controversial. Red-meat purists, who would parse this sentence as "Ensure has protein, like (there is) in meat," insist "like" can't be used as a conjunction. They want it changed to "as," i.e., "Ensure has protein, as in meat."

(These are the same folks who coughed loudly at the slogan "Winston tastes good like a cigarette should" 70 years ago.)

But the editors of Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage, though mostly vegetarians and nonsmokers, endorse the use of the conjunction "like" followed by a prepositional phrase. They cite such use in reputable publications: "The color was awful, like in bad MGM musicals" (Harper's), and "It's a backdrop of L.A., like on the Johnny Carson show" (The New Yorker).

What to do?

To my ear, "Ensure has protein, like in meat," though approved by Merriam-Webster gang, does indeed sound stilted. But the purists' "Ensure has protein, as meat does" sounds too highfalutin for an ad.

One possible fix is, "Ensure has protein, as in meat." But this might be misinterpreted to suggest that Ensure is present in meat (I hope not!).

Another possible rendering is, "Ensure has protein, like meat," but this suggests the equally unattractive possibility that the protein in Ensure is actually meat. To improve clarity, I'd simply write, "Like meat, Ensure has protein."

Grace Upshaw of Memphis notices that many people on TV say "more fast" and "more easy," instead of "faster" or "easier." "Is this acceptable?" she asks.

Except for irregular adjectives, such as good/better/best and little/less/least, most words of one or two syllables form their comparatives by adding -er or -ier, e.g., faster, easier.

There's nothing really wrong with saying "more quick" and "more easy," but why use two words when one will do? It's just, well, faster and easier to say "faster" and "easier."

However, adjectives of three or more syllables always form their comparatives using "more," e.g., more natural, more suitable, and some two-syllable adjectives do so as well, e.g., more tranquil (not tranquiler), more common (not commoner).

Trust your ear to "Ensure" the more natural choice.

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Rob Kyff, a teacher and writer in West Hartford, Connecticut, invites your language sightings. His book, "Mark My Words," is available for $9.99 on Amazon.com. Send your reports of misuse and abuse, as well as examples of good writing, via email to WordGuy@aol.com or by regular mail to Rob Kyff, Creators Syndicate, 737 3rd Street, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254.