[FatherofFive]

I take issue with being tole the use of the verb to be (is, am, etc.) can never be used to state that one thing is like something else, or can be used as a type or example.

Show me one example where IS does not mean IS. Not 'is like' or Am. Where does Is does not mean Is?

[firebrand]

. . . and others:

Don’t mean to sound more-literary-than-thou, so forgive me if I do, but in literature “is” often a stronger way of saying “is like.” In the age of Shakespeare, people did not get so technical about such things but just read what the author meant them to understand. It’s common sense, is all. As long as the essential meaning is clear, we don’t need to parse everything to death.

Such disputes actually overcomplicate the meaning of what we know to be true and all agree on, and thus divert our attention from the truth we should be paying attention to.