Wait what? Who said that
(I apologize for clearly not reading enough of the thread)
Cure Dolly when she said 私がウナギです necessarily means I am an eel. That’s how I interpreted it.
Am I wrong? Could you clarify my mistakes?
Just to be clear, you are aware 好き does not mean likeable, right?
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That’s what Tae Kim says. No, I am not aware.
Please proceed.
if youre saying i am likable you wouldnt say 好き afaik
Ok, well I think that’s the source of confusion.
Tae Kim is probably just trying to do his best to compare it to some English adjective and it’s confusing you.
好き just means “like”. Look it up in a dictionary and you’ll find 気に入ること。which just means liking something. No likeable or anything.
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Time to read a Japanese person this list of statements while they’re under an MRI:
オレンジが好きです
ウサギが好きです
車が好きです
私の車が好きです
私が好きです
Still, I reckon 私が好きです should mean “I am like”. How come it means “I like”? That would imply 私がウナギです could mean I (like? want? something othar than bein an) eel
Do you have a question about any of those …?
That’s not how japanese works. They like to omit stuff. Think about it this way
好きです means I like (the thing or person), right?
So this thing? Who likes this thing?
私が好きです
Me, I like it.
EDIT: For clarity I should mention that that can mean they like me… technically, but I feel like people would often opt for a different wording so setting that aside…
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No I just find it interesting that such a similarly structured statement can completely change the nature of it by changing the topic. I’m sure there’s tons of equivalents in English, it’s just interesting how your brain responds differently.
Maybe it would help to think of the copula as simply an equal sign.
私がウナギです - In a restaurant setting, me = eel. That’s your order. If it’s Halloween, me = eel, that’s what you’re dressing as.
But I learned that が can only come after the thing that is liked! 
Lesson one of Japanese is that exceptions abound. 
In this particular case, though, that’s a gross simplification intended to teach you a specific thing.
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That is wrong is what I am telling you.
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Wouldn’t it make more sense to use は after 私 for that sentence to imply that your order is eel? 私はウナギです。“As for me, (my order) is eel”
In this case, “my order” would take the subject marking が particle but it’s just not explicitly stated in the sentence since the subject can be gleaned from context.
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You’re confusing Dolly describing が preceding a noun vs an adjective. She is contrasting the difference between は and が to help solve the eternal conundrum of whether one should consider oneself an eel or not. This is a profound question that has stumped many.
好き is an adjective that is conjugated to 好きです. You are correct that the format 私はOOが好きです allows for one to specify that a specific person or thing is liked by you, moreso than some other person or thing, but even without specificity, 好き will always be preceded by が.
At least, if my months of studying have not completely failed me*
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Would it be a valid strategy to simply comprehend what all of these phrases mean and not try to write a concise grammar guide in my head in the hopes that one day it will all make sense? Starting to feel like I’m going nowhere.
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In real life, sure. But I’m trying to work within the constraints of the contrived example.
Not sure if you’ll believe me but it does get easier.
But yeah, in the beginning it’s sometimes better to take things as they are. Don’t worry though, you’ll keep coming back to them as you gain a broader understanding.
My years of studying have cautioned me about making absolute statements. They always seem to come back and bite me in the ass. 
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This whole thread makes me think about “eihongo” a lot. Is it real or was Cure Dolly fighting an imaginary enemy? (kinda like how the USA used to fight a war on imaginary terror for political advantages)
If it’s real, how bad is it?
How deep am I in it?
Kinda wanna make a new thread just to see what leebo has to say. Although he seems to be in a bad mood.
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