like to en · ADV
Pronunciation
- [laːk.tə] (Southern-US)
- [laɪk.tə] (Southern-US)
Etymology
Re-analysis of like (to) (an adjective meaning "likely") as an adverb. (Forms like liked to and would have liked to are from re-analysis as a verb.)
Meanings
-
(Southern-US, not-comparable) nearly; almost
We like to didn't make it through the drawbridge.
I like to (have) died when I saw you in that getup.
And the wall facing the hall was almost all glass. It looked more like a store display window than a room. Rob didn't know about all this until a week later when she was back on her ward; but when she told him, he like to died.
1995, Elizabeth Kytle, The Voices of Robby Wilde, page 204: