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Should vs Duty - What's the difference?

should | duty |

As a verb should

is (auxiliary).

As a noun should

is a statement of what should be the case as opposed to what is the case.

As an adjective duty is

hollow (having an empty space inside).

should

English

Alternative forms

* (obsolete)

Verb

(head)
  • (auxiliary)
  • If I should be late, go without me.
    Should you need extra blankets, you will find them in the closet.
  • * 1922 , (Margery Williams), (The Velveteen Rabbit)
  • It was a long weary time, for the Boy was too ill to play, and the little Rabbit found it rather dull with nothing to do all day long. But he snuggled down patiently, and looked forward to the time when the Boy should be well again, and they would go out in the garden amongst the flowers and the butterflies and play splendid games in the raspberry thicket like they used to.
  • (auxiliary) Be obliged to; have an obligation to; ought to;
  • You should brush your teeth every day.
    What do I think? What should I think?
  • * {{quote-news
  • , date = 21 August 2012 , first = Ed , last = Pilkington , title = Death penalty on trial: should Reggie Clemons live or die? , newspaper = The Guardian , url = http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/aug/21/death-penalty-trial-reggie-clemons?newsfeed=true , page = , passage = Next month, Clemons will be brought before a court presided over by a "special master", who will review the case one last time. The hearing will be unprecedented in its remit, but at its core will be a simple issue: should Reggie Clemons live or die? }}
  • * '>citation
  • (auxiliary) Will likely (become or do something);
  • You should be warm enough with that coat.
  • (modern) A variant of would.
  • * 1817 , Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey?
  • I should like to dine with him. I dare say he gives famous dinners.
  • * 1900 , , (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz)
  • "If our friends, the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman, were only with us," said the Lion, "I should be quite happy."
  • * 1900 , L. Frank Baum , The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Chapter 23
  • "Your Silver Shoes will carry you over the desert," replied Glinda. "If you had known their power you could have gone back to your Aunt Em the very first day you came to this country." "But then I should not have had my wonderful brains!" cried the Scarecrow. "I might have passed my whole life in the farmer's cornfield."

    Usage notes

    * Should'' has, as its most common meaning in modern English, the sense ''ought'' as in ''I should go, but I don't see how I can''. However, the older sense as the subjunctive of the future indicative auxiliary, ''shall'', is often used with ''I'' or ''we'' to indicate a more polite form than ''would'': ''I should like to go, but I can't''. In much speech and writing, ''should'' has been replaced by ''would'' In contexts of this kind, but it remains in conditional subjunctives: ''should'' (never ''would'') ''I go, I should wear my new dress . * (obligation) Contrast with stronger auxiliary verb (must), which indicates that the subject is required to execute the predicate. * (likely) Contrast with stronger auxiliary verb (must), which indicates that the subject certainly will execute the predicate. * See the usage notes at (shall).

    Synonyms

    * (obligation) ought

    Antonyms

    * (obligation) shouldn't

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A statement of what should be the case as opposed to what is the case.
  • * {{quote-book, year=2003, title=Overcoming Resistance in Cognitive Therapy, author=Robert L. Leahy
  • , passage=However, we can address maladaptive shoulds by examining the differences between prior events, causes, proximate causes, and moral responsibility. citation

    See also

    * precatory * * (projectlink) * (projectlink) * (projectlink)

    duty

    English

    Noun

    (duties)
  • That which one is morally or legally obligated to do.
  • :
  • *1805 , 21 October,
  • *:England expects that every man will do his duty .
  • *
  • *:Captain Edward Carlisle; he could not tell what this prisoner might do. He cursed the fate which had assigned such a duty , cursed especially that fate which forced a gallant soldier to meet so superb a woman as this under handicap so hard.
  • *{{quote-book, year=1959, author=(Georgette Heyer), title=(The Unknown Ajax), chapter=1
  • , passage=Charles had not been employed above six months at Darracott Place, but he was not such a whopstraw as to make the least noise in the performance of his duties when his lordship was out of humour.}}
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-10, volume=408, issue=8848, magazine=(The Economist), author=Lexington
  • , title= Keeping the mighty honest , passage=British journalists shun complete respectability, feeling a duty to be ready to savage the mighty, or rummage through their bins. Elsewhere in Europe, government contracts and subsidies ensure that press barons will only defy the mighty so far.}}
  • A period of time spent at work or doing a particular task.
  • :
  • Describing a workload as to its idle, working and de-energized periods.
  • A tax placed on imports or exports; a tariff.
  • (lb) One's due, something one is owed; a debt or fee.
  • *1526 , (William Tyndale), trans. Bible , (w) XX:
  • *:Take that which is thy duty , and goo thy waye.
  • (lb) Respect; reverence; regard; act of respect; homage.
  • *(William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • *:my duty to you
  • The efficiency of an engine, especially a steam pumping engine, as measured by work done by a certain quantity of fuel; usually, the number of pounds of water lifted one foot by one bushel of coal (94 lbs. old standard), or by 1 cwt. (112 lbs., England, or 100 lbs., United States).
  • Usage notes

    * Adjectives often used with "duty": public, private, moral, legal, social, double, civic, contractual, political, judicial, etc.

    Synonyms

    * (that which one is obligated to do) obligation

    Antonyms

    * duty-free (taxes) * (that which one is obligated to do) right

    Derived terms

    * active duty * chimney-duty * civic duty * death duty * Delivered Duty Paid * Delivered Duty Unpaid * dutiable * dutiful * duty-bound * duty calls * duty cycle * duty of care * estate duty * excise duty * export duty * fatigue duty * fiduciary duty * filial duty * heavy-duty * import duty * jury duty * legal duty * light-duty * line of duty * neglect duty * on duty * off duty * point duty * sea duty/sea-duty * shore duty * stamp duty * succession duty * tonnage duty * tour of duty

    Statistics

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