Speech in Action

This is the first ‘favourite’ to feature an American voice - so perhaps the spelling should be ‘favorite’, but in the interests of consistency, we will use the British spelling. The extract is taken from Chapter 7 of the American Canadian version of Streaming Speech.

If you were asked to explain the meaning of the word 'like' you would probably think of using 'enjoy' and 'is similar to' in your explanation. But 'like' has many other meanings, some of them difficult to pin down. In the extract on the left, Travis uses 'like' six times. None of them mean 'enjoy' but one is of them is close to 'is similar to'.

Click on the speaker icon to hear the extract, click on each line to hear the line. As you listen, consider ways of describing the meaning of 'like' in each line, and try to identify the line which contains the 'is similar to' meaning.

In speech unit 097 'like' can be reworded as 'is similar to' - but nowhere else. The others have to be reworded as 'things such as' (087, 089, 091), or 'such as' (092 & 100). 'Like' is a function word with many vague meanings. Travis illustrates that it is very useful, in situations such as this, when you are constructing a list.