May or Might: Lapin Logic

Proofreading is a humbling activity. It requires us proofreaders to admit when grammar stumps us, wonder about a punctuation rule, or forget if I really does come before E in certain words. We double-check, research, and question every potential suggestion or edit. It’s simply what we do to make sure our clients’ writing is perfect.

As for me, I am the first to admit when I don’t know something or am unsure about an edit. Diving into research and seeking assistance from the “proofreader hive mind” give me great joy, actually. Seeking information on reputable grammar platforms occurs every day in my world. The fun is finding the correct font of information.

The challenge

My client recently had a choice between the following:

Talk about how you may use this with your group.
OR
Talk about how you might use this with your group.

My client wanted people to say to themselves, “I will likely do this…” What they did NOT want the reader to say is (to quote Ron Weasley and other British characters), “Not bloody likely.”

I had to admit that this client’s challenge required my pausing to check a resource. So, where did I look? Isn’t it obvious? I went to a tried-and-true American icon, of course: Bugs Bunny.

“You might, rabbit, you might…”

In the 1954 cartoon, Bugs and Thugs, Bugs Bunny tricks two bad guys, Rocky and Mugsy, into hiding from the police in a stove. Pretending the cops have burst into the room, Bugs fakes a conversation, playing both the police officer AND himself. He “convinces” his cop-self that the bad guys are NOT in the stove by turning on the gas and tossing a lit match into the stove, which, of course, explodes with the two gentlemen in it. 

Remember, this is a cartoon from the 50s. Nobody dies. They just get singed and smokey. 

Believing the coast is clear, Rocky and Mugsy climb out, “burned and groggy.” Suddenly, we hear sirens as the real cops show up, and they rush back into the stove. Bugs and the real police officer then have the exact same, line-for-line conversation. Before Bugs can toss in the lit match again, Rocky and Mugsy bust out of the stove and throw themselves on the mercy of the police officer, confessing everything.

The humor comes with a lot of pain, but it also provides a guide for my client’s challenge. 

Bugs asks the himself-cop and the real cop, “Would I turn on the gas if my friend Rocky was in there?” The Bugs-policeman and the actual policeman reply in their best Irish brogues, “You might, Rabbit, you might.”

There it is! You see it? The key to the use of the word might!

Might is used when the situation is completely hypothetical or “not bloody likely.” In Bugs Bunny’s case, he is using logic—albeit flawed logic—to make it appear that he is NOT hiding his “friends.” I mean, really, what decent person would turn on the gas in a stove and toss in a lit match if their friend was inside?  

Then again, most people are not rabbits.

May infers that it is quite possible or could be or could happen. There is some fact and a lot of high probability involved with may. 

The cartoon officer, obviously, knows his science and statistics—a lit match in a gas stove that’s turned on will make things go “BOOM!” Fact. Of high probability: most people don’t blow up their friends on purpose. Hence, the not-bloody-likely response, “You might, Rabbit, you might.” 

Back to real life

In this case, my client wanted readers to use information learned in the materials with another group. If we had used might, the sentence would infer that using the presented information was pretty much not going to happen. To make it a self-fulfilling prophecy (i.e., this WILL happen), we used may. It was worded to exhibit the expectation that the readers will use the information.

Think like a cartoon character

If you must choose between might and may, think like Bugs Bunny. When it’s not bloody likely, go with might. When the situation falls within the realm of possibility, use may.

Well, unless you need the past tense of may, which is might. But I don’t want to play the role of the sneaky rabbit and explode things. That, my friends, may be a topic for another time. 

Write to NancyProofed and tell me how you may use this information in your own writing!