“There are at least six other famous women pregnant right now who aren’t getting picked on,” Presley recently told Marie Claire. “But they’re all over me. It’s like there is a campaign to demean me.”

“They want me to be him,” she said, referring to her father, Elvis Presley. “It’s like they can’t wait.”

If Ms. Presley wants a little R-E-S-P-E-C-T, we suggest she learn the difference between like and as. As is a conjunction; it has the power to join clauses. Like cannot be used as a conjunction. So if it’s followed by a verb (”there is a campaign to demean me,” “they can’t wait”), it’s being misused.

Like is a preposition that can be used for comparisons that lack a verb. For example, “Lisa complained like a diva.” No verb proceeds like, so we’re good to go. That’s true even when there is an implied verb, such as, “She took to photo shoots like a duck to water.” You can hear the implied “like a duck took to water,” but because it’s unspoken, like works.

As you can see — notice the word choice? — like has limited use. As is more versatile. It can operate as a conjunction as well as a preposition. “As Lisa’s agent, I encouraged her to stop complaining.” So, too, one could say, “Like Lisa’s agent, I encouraged her to stop complaining,” which means you’re not her agent, but you possess the same viewpoint.

When Lisa speaks like this, it’s as though she wants to be demeaned.