I believe the word “should” must be excommunicated from all dictionaries. It’s the devil in language form.
I don’t despise the word itself, because those letters arranged in this particular order did nothing to hurt me.
But the meaning we’ve projected onto this semantic construction, I detest.
In fact, I feel sorry for the word itself; it got a bad rap.
It could just as easily mean something cool like snorkeling or soda pop, but no. I’ve come to conjecture that the word “should” fuels the contemporary American Dream.
We’re a land of guilt. Like the Little Engine that Could (“Should Should Should Should Should Should Should,”), it just trucks along, goes to work, takes coffee breaks, goes back to work. All because it should.
Think about how many times a day you say or hear that word, and what effect it takes on your thoughts and actions.
Who’s telling you that you should?
Why?
I want to know where this whole notion came from — I should do this, or that.
I think it goes back to institutionalized religion.
But, at the end of a school year, when everyone should be studying, that point would be useless to make.
It’s amazing how a simple change in your diction can affect your mood, especially during stressful times like finals week.
I’ve been trying to replace should phrases with possibility phrases.
For example, instead of “I should be doing this,” I say, “I could do this or that.”
It just makes life a little sunnier and hopeful.
At this period for many graduates, this could be key to emotional survival. You should not do anything. You can do something, whether it’s this, that or anything between.
So, you could try putting should on your bad word list for a trial run for the last week of school.
I’m not saying you should, but you could.
-Lindsey Allgood is a professional writing senior.
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JJanowiak 3 years ago
Yeah, let's eliminate goals! Maybe we shouldn't get those college degrees after all.
Rhology 3 years ago
I agree! Let's eliminate all that naughty "should" crap from our vocab and our thoughts. We must march on to purer and purer empiricism, with the knowledge that OUGHT is unobtainable from IS, throwing off all clinging vestiges of religion.
No more "You should not kick puppies." "You should not rape children." "You should not steal that old lady's purse." "You should not torture that suspected Al-Qaeda member." "You should be a pure empiricist." "You should eliminate the word 'should' from your vocabulary."
Hooray!