Shall constitute: Difference between revisions
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{{a|drafting|}}A legal way of saying “is”. It scores over [[to be]] in that it is highly ''regular'': the different forms of a given tense require no [[conjugation]]: | {{a|drafting|}}{{Quote|I think, therefore I shall be deemed to be constituted. | ||
:—Graham [[Descartes]]}} | |||
A legal way of saying “is”. It scores over [[to be]] in that it is highly ''regular'': the different forms of a given tense require no [[conjugation]]: | |||
I ''shall constitute'' | I ''am''<br> | I ''shall constitute'' | I ''am''<br> | ||
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They ''shall constitute'' | They ''are''<br> | They ''shall constitute'' | They ''are''<br> | ||
On the other hand it is | On the other hand it is ''the most violent offender against the mores of plain English. | ||
“Be” is the citadel; it sits on a velvet cushion in the most heavily fortified dungeon of the keep. There is no plainer word than ''be''. It is the first word a non-English speaker learns on her long journey to being culturally hegemonised. There is no-one — not the dullest first grade student, who doesn’t understand profoundly what it means. | |||
“Constitute” adds nothing to “be”. It is no more specific, no more precise, there is no nuance of meaning it captures that “be” does not. | “Constitute” adds nothing to “be”. It is no more specific, no more precise, there is no nuance of meaning it captures that “be” does not. |