Tuesday, April 17, 2018

Shall and Will

Lose yourself in the discussion for a bit. First person, second person; British/American; prescriptive vs common usage.

Just don't ask lawyers and bureaucrats.  They really like the idea of "shall" as a command and imperative when they are writing up contracts. Only they think so.

2 comments:

Grim said...

The drowning example they give is how I was raised. “Shall” implies duty rather than wish; “will” implies an act of that will.

Assistant Village Idiot said...

Strunk & White used that example, but didn't entirely endorse it the distinction.