• corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca
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    8 months ago

    “…how birds look like…”

    Just one of many issues with the English here.

    • what it looks like
    • how it looks

    You need to pick a lane.

    • Squirrel@thelemmy.club
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      8 months ago

      I typically assume it’s a non-native speaker with things like this, but I’m not sure in this case.

      • Old_Fat_White_Guy@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        I too try to give the benefit of the doubt when reading stilted text that basically conveys the meaning but the syntax is janky.

        I’m in southern Ohio so there are quite a few people from the hills and hollers around here.

        Methany definitely talks exactly like how that is.

    • cinnamonTea@lemmy.ml
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      8 months ago

      I’d read this with commas around ‘like’, rather than with a period after it: “… how birds look, like, I’m afraid” works as a sentence while “… how birds look like. I’m afraid” is both wrong, like you point out, but also sounds much more serious than the jokey tone I’d expect from a message without punctuation and capitalization

    • HiddenLayer5@lemmy.ml
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      8 months ago

      No they’re asking how do birds look like the way they do. In which case the answer is that a bird’s body evolved to be streamlined and lightweight in order to fly more efficiently. /s

    • PunnyName@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      Did you understand what was being communicated? Yes? Congratulations!

      Because, really, that’s generally all that’s necessary.