The insidious replacement of 'probably' by the americanism 'likely'.

[sidebirds]

Intolerable!

Not to the BBC. But don't get me started. 😋(I'm with you.)

Can you give an example?

I’ve been waging a one-woman war on this for nearly 30 years. No surrender!

“The prime minister will likely go to Buckingham Palace Friday to meet the king”.

Can’t say I view this as an American term.

This annoys me too, though I’ve noticed it only in the last few years. Both my children (in their 20s) do it.

@Fairyvocals That isn't wrong but it sounds clumsy.

If OP means this kind of usage then I can’t say I’ve ever noticed it.

"... is most likely to..."? Better to say probably!

YANBU. It's not something that would really annoy me but there are others. I've noticed laying instead of lying in a couple of BBC news reports ("laying on the sea bed") and I do think they should know better.

They are not interchangeable, either.

(I mean, I admit I'm a little obssessive with subtle variations of meanings, so feel free to jump on me.)

You'll 'probably' hate me then, as I used 'mostly' in that context. Like 'he's mostly an arsehole' rather than he probably is one. I'm not sure if that really even makes sense?

I think I would find it hard to get upset about this. Both terms are clear and grammatical. And even if one is more associated with American usage it doesn't feel at all out of place in UK usage, perhaps because it is so closely congruent with the ways in which we do use 'likely'.

Is the objection that in UK usage we would more naturally use 'likely' in a longer phrase -- "It is likely that the PM ..."?

Our use of the longer format doesn't make the shorter one wrong. After all, we could also use the longer format for 'probably': "It is probable that the PM ...".

I hate it too.

I always use probably and haven’t ver used likely, @sidebirds. I may not be on the barricades with you, but I’m doing my bit.

OMG I've been hating 'likely' for years, good to know I'm not alone. To continue the theme I should probably have said 'hating on'...

Here are some more American-import faves. I think I've posted them before on another pedant thread but never mind!

Ride the bus instead of get the bus
Work two jobs instead of have two jobs
Watch a child instead of babysit, or mind a child
Pick out instead of choose
Named for instead of named after
Excited for instead of excited about
The ocean instead of the sea (especially funny when talking about the English Channel)

I should add that I think these are glorious in their natural US habitat - just wish we could keep our own phrasal verbs and vocab.

The more obvious one is maybe for perhaps.

Those have completely different meanings though. He's probably an arsehole means 'I think he is, but I'm not 100% sure'. He's mostly an arsehole means either 'He's an arsehole most but not all of the time', or 'In some aspects, but not all, he's an arsehole'.

I think it's the fact that it's being used as an adverb rather than an adjective. However, I've just looked in my (30 year-old) copy of the OED and it lists 'likely' as both adjective and adverb, and gives the definition of the adverb as 'probably'. It sounds totally fine to me in UK usage tbh.

Those have different meanings, @DiscoBob .

He's mostly an arsehole means he is an arsehole about most things, whereas He's probably an arsehole means that there is a strong likelihood that he's an arsehole.

I think part of the reason for the discomfort is that the adjective 'likely' already has the ending associated with an adverb, so we can't create the adverbial form in the usual way, by adding 'ly'.

This means that hearers who are less familiar with its adverbial use can 'hear' it as an adjective out of place, when in fact it is correct as an adverb.

It's not alone in this respect. [EDIT I mean, it isn't alone in respect of the impossibility of creating the adverb by adding 'ly' to the adjective]. The other similar term that comes to mind is 'friendly'. It always makes me stumble because it feels like the adverb should be 'friendlyly'. We have to resort to a circumlocution like 'in a friendly manner' (or use an altogether different word). That's what a lot of UK speakers do with 'likely', but it isn't compulsory I think, given that 'likely' is accepted as an adverb.

Yeah I know. That's why I put it on here as I knew you'd all see what an eejit I am! 🤣

I think it started when I used to say 'most probably', then that reduced to 'mostly'. 🙃

Yes! Shocking that the illiterate 'laying' for 'lying' is now used by the established broadcast media (mind you they are so appalling / manipulative / dishonest that this simply continues the trajectory of societal decline). The gaffe you cite is also an americanism 🤯

"I should add that I think these are glorious in their natural US habitat - just wish we could keep our own phrasal verbs and vocab."

⬆️ spot-on!

I will add 'guy' for 'man'' / 'chap' / or - individuals in a group. An insidious americanism that is now at plague-levels. Fine across the pond, but appalling here.

I would associate this with the UK more than the US.