Nov 22 2008
Better, Had Better and Should
One of the following sentences is very informal. One is informal. One is formal. Can you guess which is which?
- You had better get this right!
- You should get this right!
- You better get this right!
Here’s how they play out on the scale from very informal to formal:
- VERY INFORMAL: You better get this right!
- INFORMAL: You had better get this right!
- FORMAL: You should get this right!
Being the astute reader and writer that you are, I’m sure you noticed that the two informal versions of the statement have something the formal version lacks: a threatening tone. If someone were to say to me, “You better get this right,” or even, “You had better get this right,” I wouldn’t be surprised if he were to have my shirt collar twisted up in his fists as he says it. Nor would I be shocked if his next words were something along the lines of, “Or I’ll rip your head off your body and use it for a hockey puck.”
It would be a far kinder, gentler soul who would say, “You should get this right.” That’s the kind of person I’d rather be dealing with.
In other words, two things are going on here: (1) the level of formality, and (2) the level of civility.
All this goes to show, once again, that English is a language with many subtle undertones.
I’ve never learned “had better” had a threatening tone at school. As I learned English as my second language, “had better” was like recommendation. Maybe few of us have been used “had better” to others. At least I hope so.