As and like

[nyota]

She loved the costume and acted as a princess before we headed out for the night.

Maybe it's that she was staging it like she was playing the role of a princess in some sort of drama. After all it has been mentioned she's got the right costume. ;)

• She loved the costume and acted as (if she really was) a princess before we headed out for the night.

How did we get as if meaning in the second sentence ([2] She looks as ) if as shows facts not counterfactualness?

I guess you'd have to assume, as Soup's shown, that if she really was is implied here.

[5jj]

What we have to be aware of when trying to understand the usage of as and like is that they are context dependent, that is they function differently in different patterns and they play different roles in different situations. It's also about the verbs with which they are used. It's quite a complex issue, to be honest

I agree, especially with the part I have underlined; some of the confusion in this thread, in my opinion is caused by the fact that "She looks as a princess" is simply not a natural sentence.

She acted like as a princess - Her behaviour was similar to that of a princess. She may or may not have actually been a princess.

She acted like as a princess - During her acting career, she played the role of a princess.

She acted like as (the) princess - She stood in for the princess. (The princess could not be there so 'she' performed the duties that the princess would have carried out.)

She looked as like a princess - Her appearance was what one normally associates with that of a princess.

She looked as a princess - An unnatural sentence, in my opinion.

She looked at the ambassador as a princess does -
1. She was a princess, and she looked at the ambassador in a princess-ly manner.
2. She was a princess, and she looked at the ambassador; it is a characteristic of princesses that they look at ambassadors.
3. She was not a princess, but she looked at the ambassador in a princess-ly manner.

Context and, in speech, intonation and pausing would make it clear which of these last three was intended. In all three some speakers might use 'like'; some would consider 'like' to be incorrect.

[engee30]

What about these ones:
I treat business as a game.
vs
I treat business like a game.

[5jj]

I treat business as a game. ...vs....I treat business like a game.

For me, 'I' consider that business is a game in the first, not in the second - though 'I' treat it as if it were. In practical terms, the difference in meaning is minimal.

In my opinion.

[Verona_82]

By the way, apart from 'being similar' meaning, like can also express the idea of 'happening in the same way'.
If I lived in a monarchy, I think I could hear something like "I, like the princess, disapprove of the minister's policy'.