A regular reader of this blog recently wrote with the following quandary:
Q: It drives me crazy when I hear someone say “It’s not dissimilar to…” or “It’s not unlike…” THEN IT’S SIMILAR OR IT’S LIKE, YOU IDIOT! Please explain this language phenomenon to me.
A: What we’re dealing with here is a matter of degree. To say one thing is “like” another is like saying the two things have a lot in common. To say one thing is “not unlike” something else is not unlike saying that while the two things may be largely different, they still have a couple of common traits.
Q: Sounds to me like a mechanism for avoiding a commitment.
A: It’s not unlike that at all.
Q: I think I’ll go pull out my fingernails with pliers. The pain is not unlike what I feel when I hear someone say these things.
A: Now you’re catching on!
If you have a question for “Ask an English Teacher” feel free to drop me a line. Satisfaction guaranteed or your money back!
17 responses to “Ask an English Teacher: “Like” vs. “Not Unlike””
Funny!
Not unlike is a figure of speech that was typically used to highlight our draw attention to a specific statement. As long as someone uses it correctly, it doesn’t bother me.
Interesting… Do you have an example?
I suppose it is a bit like apophasis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apophasis) or even a litote. Any form of rhetoric in which someone negates the opposite, or pretends to use negation to put forward a “positive” proposition. I can’t think of a good example off the top of my head though.
Very interesting… Thanks!
Hey, Marc–I Not Unlike your post! :-]
Thanks!
Please keep blogging your words of wisdom.
Reblogged this on never2late2write and commented:
Get your English Straight. Read on:
Whew! I was worried when I saw the post title. I used “not unlike” in a recent post—properly, I’m happy to say. Terrific post, Marc!
Love it. More please!
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it.
I hope you make this a regular part of your blog. This is a great idea to be able to ask questions about the english language from someone who obviously knows what they are talking about and has a passion for it.
Not to mention has a great sense of humor with it as well.
Keep it up!
I’ll post another installment on Thursday, but I make no promises as to how helpful it will be!
I grinned, not unlike a tiger espying a large monkey on crutches, upon reading this post.
Wait ’til you see my post on “espying.”
Whaow I guess I had to be extra careful blogging here and has to ensure there’s no grammatical mistakes!
I had blogged about being “Strange” and “Strangers”, wonder if you could give some decent comments on it? 🙂