The word “like” is versatile. You may use it as a verb (I like that gray horse in the Belmont), as a preposition (he runs like Seabiscuit), as a conjunction (he looks like a winner), as an adverb (I, like, missed my trifecta by a nose), or as a colloquial lead-in to a quote (she was like, “How did you pick that horse out of such a large field?”).
Just don’t use like when you mean such as.
The general rule is this: When you use like, you are excluding. When you use such as, you are including.
Here’s a sentence with like. “With a jockey like Julien Leparoux, an average horse has a chance to win.” When you use like in this case, you are excluding Leparoux from the larger lot of jockeys; you are saying that he is special, even unique.
Here’s a sentence with such as. “When jockeys such as Julien Leparoux and Kent Desormeaux keep winning, you should start betting on them.” In this case, like is inclusive; it refers to jockeys as a class whose members include the named individuals.
Remember the phrase, “I like a special person.” That should remind you that you use like when you’re talking about someone or something special or unique.
Neil Chethik, aka the Grammar Gourmet, is executive director at the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning (www.carnegieliteracy.org) and author of FatherLoss and VoiceMale. The Carnegie Center offers writing classes and seminars for businesses and individuals. Contact Neil at neil@carnegiecenterlex.org or (859) 254-4175.