# The Opposite of Guilty **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 10, 2007, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-opposite-of-guilty/415123 "2007-08-10T12:41:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2007, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-opposite-of-guilty/415123/21 "2007-08-11T14:10:56Z")
[QUOTE=Bryan Ekers] If you are supposed to do Y, it’s implied you have a duty to do Y. Thus, failure makes you _derelict_ of Y. [/QUOTE] Please note, everyone he’s not asking about dereliction, he’s asking about the _opposite_. If you are supposed to do Y , and you **actually do it** , then you are \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ of Y. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2007, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-opposite-of-guilty/415123/22 "2007-08-11T14:14:31Z")
[QUOTE=Bryan Ekers] If you are supposed to do Y, it’s implied you have a duty to do Y. Thus, failure makes you _derelict_ of Y. Various online dictionaries support me on this, though I don’t expect the phrasing is that common. More likely, I expect, is the longer and somewhat redundant “you are derelict in your duty to do Y”. [/QUOTE] Good point, but the question was: > [@](#): > > Is there a word that describes the following situation? . . . If you are supposed to do Y, and you do it, you are “??? of Y.” ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2007, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-opposite-of-guilty/415123/23 "2007-08-11T14:23:49Z")
**Moderator Note** : Please take (re-)discussions of the distinction between civil and criminal burdens of proof and the social policy implications thereof to another thread, which probably belongs in another forum. Here are a some threads and staff reports that cover the issue: > **[Civil lawsuits.](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=419874)** > > Why is the standard of evidence required for a civil suit set lower than the standard for a criminal suit? > **[Question for the legal eagles out there](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=340205)** > > I was sitting at work yesterday, thumbing through a copy (not mine, I assure you) of one of our finer supermarket rags when I came across a story about how the Goldman family has yet to see a dime of the 30 million dollar judgment they won from O.J.... [http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mguilty.html](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mguilty.html) [http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mjeopardy.htm](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mjeopardy.htm) **Gfactor** , General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2007, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-opposite-of-guilty/415123/24 "2007-08-11T15:37:37Z")
Ah, yes, of course. Misread that one, clearly. If you have to do Y, and you do Y… I’d say you’re _diligent_. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2007, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-opposite-of-guilty/415123/25 "2007-08-11T16:04:21Z")
[QUOTE=Bryan Ekers] Ah, yes, of course. Misread that one, clearly. If you have to do Y, and you do Y… I’d say you’re _diligent_. [/QUOTE] I don’t see it: > [@](#): > > Main Entry: dil·i·gent > Pronunciation: 'di-l&-j&nt > Function: adjective > Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin diligent-, diligens, from present participle of diligere to esteem, love, from di- (from dis- apart) + legere to select – more at LEGEND > : characterized by steady, earnest, and energetic effort : PAINSTAKING \ > synonym see BUSY > > - dil·i·gent·ly adverb [http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/diligent](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/diligent) Random House gives: 1. Constant in effort to accomplish something; attentive and persistent in doiong anything: _a diligent student_; 2. done or pusued with perservering attention; painstaking: _a diligent search of the files_. Diligent is either a conclusion about the person who does Y, generally (he did Y because he’s diligent) or a description of how the person did Y. Diligence _is_ a duty sometimes imposed or presumed by the law: “due diligence,” “exercise reasonable diligence,” etc. [Hogan Lovells Cadwalader – A Leading Global Law Firm](http://www.cwt.com/assets/article/081905CohenKalembkaNYLJ.pdf) and perhaps in the context where the rule requires diligence, compliance with the rule could be described as diligence. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2007, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-opposite-of-guilty/415123/26 "2007-08-11T17:00:46Z")
Gimme a break, willya, I’m trying to rebound. If you have a duty and you fulfill that duty, perhaps you are _assiduous_. I can’t find a term that refers to the performance of a specific duty, though, just more adjectives for people who fulfill all their duties generally. ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2007, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-opposite-of-guilty/415123/27 "2007-08-11T20:49:10Z")
[QUOTE=HeyHomie] No, I don’t mean “innocent.” Is there a word that describes the following situation? If you are not supposed to do X, and you do it anyway, you are “guilty of X.” If you _are_ supposed to do Y, and you do it, you are “??? of Y.” [/QUOTE] Does the OP mean If you _are_ supposed to do Y, and you don’t do it, you are "??? of Y. in this case you might be accountable. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2007, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-opposite-of-guilty/415123/28 "2007-08-11T20:51:17Z")
I say again, _observant_. As in “He’s an observant Jew,” for instance. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-opposite-of-guilty/415123.md?page=1)