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Guest ac thomas

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Keep in mind that there is no rule on this forum that requires all posts in a thread to be directly responsive to the original poster's question. Often interesting peripheral issues come up. Mr. Goldsworthy's comments were in response to Mr. Martin, and his words made it pretty clear that the alternate interpretation of 'shall' is unlikely to apply to most organizations today. The idea that interpretation of bylaws language may have to include knowledge of older language usage (and the fact that there are apparently people doing research in this arcane area (!) ) is an interesting bit of information IMO. That doesn't mean everyone has to find it interesting though :lol: .

From other things I've read on this forum, the 'shall' = 'must' equivalence seems firmly established in the technical language currently used by parliamentarians (even if RONR does not, standing by itself, clearly define this usage).

While I can appreciate that a forum chock full of professionals will inspire some to impress, or educate, each other, that is no excuse for rudeness, obfuscation, or evasion. A few people, yourself included, have provided useful information in addition to insight. Certain others were merely childish. If the parliamentary community wants to tolerate that, it's your business. Just don't expect all outsiders to take kindly to it.

At any rate, thanks to those who responded with substance to my question(s), the situation at my end has been resolved satisfactorily. Many thanks.

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>>It is my understanding that the word "shall" is explicit and imperative.<<

• There is no support for that interpretation in RONR.

• If the bylaws are old (circa 100 years old), then "shall" does not imply must, but implies "will." (See Fowler's for the original demarcation; see Garner's for the research confirmation.)

Well, since the Bylaws are less than 100 years old, Mr. Thomas can verify that "shall" means "must" in the context of laws or rules with his dictionary of choice.

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