2006-11-22 22:24:50 · 5 answers · asked by porter 2 in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
I typed 'He who laughs at crooked men should walk very straight' in Google, most results are "He who laughs at crooked men should need walk very straight'. It is a mostly quoted sentence.
2006-11-23 22:38:24 · update #1
Yes, if you take out the word 'should':
"He who laughs at crooked men needs to walk very straight."
I think the word 'needs' is more appropriate to the sentence because 'should' implies that he does NOT HAVE to walk very straight, perhaps just a little straight or even not really have to... it would be his/her choice.
The word 'should' is not a very strong word when trying to convey an idea. Example:
You should clean your room.
versus
You need to clean your room.
The word 'needs' makes "walk very straight" mandatory, which, in my opinion, makes the sentence more powerful.
That line is from the poem "The Jester's Sermon", which is creditted to George Walter Thornbury (1828 - 1876), an English author.
I just read the entire poem...
I noticed that, with the exception of 5 lines in the poem (including the line "He who laughs...", which has 13; 2 lines have 15 and 2 lines have 16), each line in the poem has 14 syllables.
Thornbury may have added an extra word to conform to the cadence/meter of the lines below and above that line. Without an extra word, his rhyming couplet may have been intact, but the rhythm distorted... it would lose its flow.
Without the extra word, it would have fallen way short of the rest of his 14 syllable lines, not to mention the 15 and 16 syllable ones.
Besides, whether it is correct or not, it is the author's discretion as to what word(s) he wants included or excluded in his works.
2006-11-22 22:30:34 · answer #1 · answered by Just Me 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
There is something wrong with this sentence, the way you have three verbs in a row. I have heard need used like this, but it is an archaic/obsolete usage. But the verb 'should' throws it off. You could take out should and leave need in, and it would be fine. A bit archaic, perhaps, but retains the intended meaning. If you took out need it would change the meaning of the sentence significantly, in my opinion. The problem here is with the word should, not need. Just Me above gave you an excellent answer.
It is from a poem - poets tend to take some literary license when writing, to make the syllables per line match the meter and everything. It does not mean that it is grammatically correct - just a poetical usage.
2006-11-23 08:29:13 · answer #2 · answered by Jeannie 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Sounds more like it should be "He who laughs at crooked men need not walk very straight"
2006-11-23 06:35:30 · answer #3 · answered by Brian L 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No. It should be:
"He who laughs at crooked men should walk very straight."
2006-11-23 06:26:44 · answer #4 · answered by supensa 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You are correct. 'Need' should not be there.
2006-11-23 06:33:06 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋