# A noun that means "things you should do" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 10, 2012, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-noun-that-means-things-you-should-do/631116 "2012-08-10T19:23:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![RadicalPi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/radicalpi/32/9806_2.png) [@RadicalPi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadicalPi)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-noun-that-means-things-you-should-do/631116/21 "2012-08-10T22:32:33Z")
> [@MandaJo](#): > > I suppose one could coin something like “Prudencies” This I like. I may have to invent this word. Either this or _juditions_. > [@greenslime1951](#): > > Why do you want a single word to express a relatively complex concept? “Things a person should do” may seem unwieldy, but it zeroes in on the idea, where any one-word approximation will be just that: an approximation. Parsimony, mostly. > [@TheChileanBlob](#): > > When I took Ethics in college, I learned the concept of “supererogatory.” Mandatory things are the ones you have a moral imperative to do; supererogatory things are the ones that it’s nice for you to do, but that aren’t morally required. This is the word I’ve been trying to find synonyms of. It’s exactly right, except that (a) no one knows this word and (b) the things I’m thinking of aren’t necessarily moral in nature. For example, I don’t think that eating broccoli has all that much to do with morality. Well, maybe consequentialism. 😉 > [@WordMan](#): > > The fact that English doesn’t have an easy word for these is interesting enough. I am sure in German there is a word that is super long and translates to something like “stuff your mother makes you feel bad for not doing.” This, as it turns out, is the thing that I’m trying to avoid, in that I want the content of the “should” to speak for itself and not rely on the authority of anyone. That is, eating broccoli is a good idea regardless of whether anyone thinks it is. I’m looking for a word that has that idea (at the least) of impartiality. I really thought there was such a word and I just couldn’t think of it. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-noun-that-means-things-you-should-do/631116/22 "2012-08-10T22:36:36Z")
> [@RadicalPi](#): > > what about things that are without much doubt the best course of action but that you still don’t have to do? Things like eating your vegetables or not being a jackass. The word “dos” is used thusly, but only in the context of “dos and don’ts.” ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-noun-that-means-things-you-should-do/631116/23 "2012-08-10T23:09:20Z")
Nm ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-noun-that-means-things-you-should-do/631116/24 "2012-08-10T23:10:21Z")
Incumbent upon ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-noun-that-means-things-you-should-do/631116/25 "2012-08-10T23:57:59Z")
Are you running for mayor in "ought"erville? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-noun-that-means-things-you-should-do/631116/26 "2012-08-11T00:24:57Z")
Desiderata. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-noun-that-means-things-you-should-do/631116/27 "2012-08-11T00:26:30Z")
Key deliverables. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-noun-that-means-things-you-should-do/631116/28 "2012-08-11T00:39:20Z")
Mitzvot? ETA: Eh, no…I guess those are pretty much mandatory. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-noun-that-means-things-you-should-do/631116/29 "2012-08-11T02:03:55Z")
Me, I’m a Nihilist, so you’re dharma if you do and dharma if you don’t. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-noun-that-means-things-you-should-do/631116/30 "2012-08-11T02:04:32Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > Well, the Latin word is _agenda_. I never realized this. By gosh, you’re right! I knew about “Miranda”=“she who should/must be admired”; and, “Amanda”=“she who should/must be loved.” “Agenda” (neuter plural, not feminine singular like my examples) = “things which should/must be done.” Cool! ---
**Author:** ![brazil84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@brazil84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazil84)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-noun-that-means-things-you-should-do/631116/31 "2012-08-11T02:04:52Z")
> [@RadicalPi](#): > > I have been looking for a word for a few months now, and I have just not been able to find it. Things you have to do can be called “obligations,” (and they usually are) but what about things that are without much doubt the best course of action but that you still don’t have to do? Things like eating your vegetables or not being a jackass. > > Any suggestions you might have would be greatly appreciated. best practices? ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-noun-that-means-things-you-should-do/631116/32 "2012-08-11T02:08:04Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > I never realized this. By gosh, you’re right! I knew about “Miranda”=“she who should/must be admired”; and, “Amanda”=“she who should/must be loved.” > > “Agenda” (neuter plural, not feminine singular like my examples) = “things which should/must be done.” Cool! So if having to love her is on my agenda is that a Memoranda? ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-noun-that-means-things-you-should-do/631116/33 "2012-08-11T03:16:22Z")
Best answer would seem to be along the lines of “proper practices.” The Latin gerundive was a verbal form (substantive or adjective) devoted to stating what should properly be made or done, e.g., a memorandum was originally a note of what should properly be remembered. Dozens of such words were borrowed by English. However, pejorativization has besmirched the appropriate word for the general “thing that should properly be done”, which would be \*_agendum_, the singular not common in English but its plural, a list of things to be done, very common as “agenda” – and unfortunately in the past few years this has picked up a highly negative connotation. ---
**Author:** ![IAmNotSpartacus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@IAmNotSpartacus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IAmNotSpartacus)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-noun-that-means-things-you-should-do/631116/34 "2012-08-11T03:31:42Z")
Norms. Mores. Ask a sociologist IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-noun-that-means-things-you-should-do/631116/35 "2012-08-11T04:43:24Z")
Observe the formalities. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-noun-that-means-things-you-should-do/631116/36 "2012-08-11T04:57:51Z")
That which will keep your nose clean. Observing the priorities (unless that’s already been said upthread) ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-noun-that-means-things-you-should-do/631116/37 "2012-08-11T10:54:02Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > So if having to love her is on my agenda is that a Memoranda? Just be sure to cover up her pudendum. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-noun-that-means-things-you-should-do/631116/38 "2012-08-11T10:58:30Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > However, pejorativization has besmirched the appropriate word for the general “thing that should properly be done”, which would be \*_agendum_, the singular not common in English but its plural, a list of things to be done, very common as “agenda” – and unfortunately in the past few years this has picked up a highly negative connotation. Interesting. A similar development in “he/she has _issues_”. Or, just for Woody Allen in _Broadway Danny Rose_, “we’ve got a definite type of situation.” ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-noun-that-means-things-you-should-do/631116/39 "2012-08-11T11:17:27Z")
My colleagues from India occasionally suggest that I “do the needful” for a given situation. A nice, vague phrase that imparts urgency while leaving the details of what is urgent up to the recipient. The problem is, my inner 15-year-old has to consciously avoid thinking of it as a euphemism for masturbation (what I would “need” to resort to in the absence of “doing the nasty”). ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-noun-that-means-things-you-should-do/631116/40 "2012-08-11T13:22:55Z")
It seems we need a word somewhere “above” **desirable** and “below” **obligatory**. What’s wrong with **optimal**? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-noun-that-means-things-you-should-do/631116.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-noun-that-means-things-you-should-do/631116.md?page=3)