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obliged and obligated

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Ryan

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Jan 27, 2005, 12:36:32 AM1/27/05
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What's the difference in 'obliged' and 'obligated', when you say someone is
.. to do something? Thanks!


Steve MacGregor

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Jan 27, 2005, 1:13:19 AM1/27/05
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"Ryan" <Ry...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:35rcv4F...@individual.net...

> 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

lightbulb

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Jan 27, 2005, 1:16:35 AM1/27/05
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"Ryan" <Ry...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:35rcv4F...@individual.net...
> What's the difference in 'obliged' and 'obligated', when you say someone
is
> .. to do something? Thanks!
>
>

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


R J Valentine

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Jan 27, 2005, 1:37:37 AM1/27/05
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On Thu, 27 Jan 2005 00:36:32 -0500 Ryan <Ry...@aol.com> wrote:

} 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>

dcw

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Jan 27, 2005, 5:37:55 AM1/27/05
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In article <35rcv4F...@individual.net>, Ryan <Ry...@aol.com> wrote:
>What's the difference in 'obliged' and 'obligated', when you say someone is
>.. to do something? Thanks!

"Obligated" is unusual in British English.

David

Mike Lyle

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Jan 27, 2005, 1:08:54 PM1/27/05
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I think I may have said something intelligent about this last time it
came up.

Mike.


Tony Cooper

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Jan 27, 2005, 5:40:15 PM1/27/05
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Are we obliged or obligated to remember what it was?

Mike Lyle

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Jan 27, 2005, 5:59:04 PM1/27/05
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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.


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