Oddball
Unobtanium Member
No, they were so in legal writings a long time ago....I started studying these words as they relate to contracts back in the mid-1990s.What's the only word that means mandatory? Here's what law and policy say about "shall, will, may and must."Believe it or not.....on another popular thread, Trump "defenders" are arguing that the term (verb) SHALL really means a politte "may" when House committee members cite the existing LAW as to why Trump's tax returns should be handed over.
Hate to burst your bubble, nat. For that I am truly sorry. Not.
WHAT IS SHALL?
As used in statutes and similar instruments, this word is generally imperative or mandatory; but it may be construed as merely permissive or directory, (as equivalent to “may,”) to carry out the legislative intention and In cases where no right or benefit to any one depends on its being taken in the imperative sense, and where no public or private right is impaired by its interpretation in the other sense. Also, as against the government, “shall” is to be construed as “may,” unless a contrary intention is manifest.
What is SHALL? definition of SHALL (Black's Law Dictionary)
You gonna run away again?
It only became so in legal writings after 2010