Discussion Forum—A Way with Words, a fun radio show and podcast about language

A Word Please. Like most grammar myths, this one is rooted in the belief that everything in language is either absolutely right or absolutely wrong. So if, at your first copy editing job, the boss tells you to replace every "like" with "such as," you might accept without question that this "like" is wrong. It's fine for a publication's style to prefer "such as" over "like." There are some good reasons to. But that doesn't mean that you should take a red pen to every "like" for the rest of your life.