It’s, like, a misleading headline, isn’t it?

Reginald Dale, Transatlantic Media Network director, had a letter to the editor that was published today in the Financial Times.

Sir, Oh, come on! Just because our American cousins use the word “likely” as an adverb, you don’t have to follow suit, as in your front-page headline, “Recession likely over in US, says Bernanke” (September 16). Yes, I know you are citing Ben Bernanke, the Federal Reserve chairman, but because you are quoting him indirectly you are allowed to correct the usage. In British English, your headline means that a recession is likely, over there in the US. Technically, the correct adverbial form of “likely” is “likelily”, but that is horrible. If you insist on using the American vernacular, perhaps you should say “Recession is, like, over”.