like steve does vs as steve does

Question

Which is correct?Do it as Steve does.Do it like Steve does.Winston tastes like / as a cigarette should.Not sure whether 'a cigarette should' is a complete sentence (independent clause).Thank you,Mike

Cool Breeze · Accepted Answer

Opinions vary about that. This quotation is from Random House Unabridged Dictionary:

—Usage. LIKE as a conjunction meaning “as, in the same way as” (Many shoppers study the food ads like brokers study market reports) or “as if ” (It looks like it will rain) has been used for nearly 500 years and by many distinguished literary and intellectual figures. Since the mid-19th century there have been objections, often vehement, to these uses. Nevertheless, such uses are almost universal today in all but the most formal speech and writing. In extremely careful speech and in much formal writing, as, as if, and as though are more commonly used than LIKE: The commanding general accepted full responsibility for the incident, as any professional soldier would. Many of the Greenwich Village bohemians lived as if (or as though) there were no tomorrow.
The strong strictures against the use of LIKE as a conjunction have resulted in the occasional hypercorrect use of as as a preposition where LIKE is idiomatic: She looks as a sympathetic person.
LIKE meaning “as if ” is also standard in informal speech and writing with a small number of adjectives: The crew worked like crazy (or like mad) to finish the job on time.

CB

Goronsky · Answer

Thank you! Very much appreciated, CB.

CalifJim · Answer

goronskyWhich is correct?Do it as Steve does.Do it like Steve does.

In my opinion, both are correct. Personally, I would probably use 'as'.

goronskyWinston tastes like / as a cigarette should. Not sure whether 'a cigarette should' is a complete sentence (independent clause).

I think you've got the wrong end of the stick about something here, but I'm not sure what it is.

"a cigarette should" in the context of that sentence implies "a cigarette should taste". It's quite normal to let an auxiliary verb stand for the whole verb phrase that is intended. I have done more work than he has. (done) Penguins can't fly, but other birds can. (fly) Leaving off the main verb in those cases does not mean you're dealing with an incomplete sentence.

After "like" of "as" you don't have an independent clause, no matter what you put there. These are all dependent structures:

like a swan
as the crow flies
as you should
like they were on fire
as we wanted to

But you're probably asking about the prescriptive rule that 'like' should not be used as a conjunction and that 'as' should be used when connecting to a clause. In that case, 'should' is enough of a verb to bar the use of 'like' and trigger the use of 'as'. So, according to this "rule", it should be Winston tastes good as a cigarette should. I think English has moved on since the times when this rule was strictly enforced by English teachers.

CJ

Goronsky · Answer

Excellent explication, CJ.

Thank you.

like steve does vs as steve does

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