This is a dialogue between an American and a British.
A: In the U.S. Chips are potato chips, like Lays and Pringles
B: Oh, okay. We use potato chips like Lays and Pringles. We call them crisps.
Is there a particular reason why there is a comma in potato chips, like Lays and Pringles and no comma in potato chips like Lays and Pringles?
What do you native English speakers think?
And I know that such as is much better than like there, but so many times, they are interchangeable for the same meaning, especially in spoken English.
Thank you so much as usual in advance.
Hans51Is there a particular reason why there is a comma in potato chips,
It is informal text, and some writers are prolific with commas. Others are quite parsimonious.
Hans51And I know that such as is much better than like there, but so many times, they are interchangeable for the same meaning, especially in spoken English.
Young people especially use "like" as filler. A true linguistic fad.
Hans51B: Oh, okay. We eat potato chips like Lays and Pringles. We call them crisps.
By the way, in BrE "chips" are what Americans call "fries".
When you order "Fish & Chips" you do not get Lays or Pringles on the side.
That's how I would have done it. The difference is in the meanings of "like".
In the American sentence, he doesn't mean potato chips that are similar to Lays and Pringles. He means potato chips, period—Lays and Pringles, for example. The comma is mandatory in that meaning.
In the British sentence, he does mean potato chips similar to Lays and Pringles because his British chips are not at all similar to them, his chips being what American call (french) fries. Absence of comma is mandatory in that meaning.