> What's the difference in 'obliged' and 'obligated', when you say
> someone is .. to do something? Thanks!
Others can obligate you to do something. If you are obliged to do
something, it is an obligation from within you -- your conscience
obliges you.
Or at least, that's what the words mean to me. Consult your friendly
neighborhood dictionary for a second opinion.
--
Steve
They can mean the same thing. Usually, though, someone feels obliged
whereas an obligation is more explicit, as in a stipulation of an oath or
the repayment of some debt of honor.
I felt obliged to help her/I thought I should help her/I feel as though I
ought to help her
I was obligated to help her/It was my duty to help her/I had promised her I
would help/I owed her a favor/She kept her end of the deal and now it is
time for me to uphold my end
HTH
Mike
} What's the difference in 'obliged' and 'obligated', when you say someone is
} .. to do something? Thanks!
My trusty old _American Heritage Dictionary_ (I) has a usage note that
reads in part:
_Oblige_ and _obligate_ are interchangeable in the sense of genuine
constraint, but not in instances involving a sense of gratitude for a
service or favor. A person is _obliged_ (not _obligated_) when he
feels a debt of gratitude and nothing more; he is _obligated_ (or
_obliged_) when under a direct compulsion to follow a given course.
--
R. J. Valentine <mailto:r...@smart.net>
"Obligated" is unusual in British English.
David
Mike.
Are we obliged or obligated to remember what it was?
Neether. But I have a vague, and possibly erroneous, sense that I
thought I found some difference from the modern use in earlier uses
of "obligated".
Mike.