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Glossary entry

English term or phrase:

would not do

English answer:

it would be embarrassing or inconvenient

    The asker opted for community grading. The question was closed on 2010-12-17 09:54:09 based on peer agreement (or, if there were too few peer comments, asker preference.)
Dec 13, 2010 09:21
13 yrs ago
1 viewer *
English term

would not do

Non-PRO English Art/Literary History fiction
It would not do for an Unfortunate Incident to occur during the journey.

*****

All the best, and many thanks,

Mehmet Hascan
Responses
4 +6 it would be embarrassing or inconvenient
5 +2 It would not be convenient
4 +2 must not or should not occur/ would be disastrous
Change log

Dec 13, 2010 17:31: Tony M changed "Term asked" from "do for" to "would not do"

Dec 14, 2010 00:08: Ildiko Santana changed "Level" from "PRO" to "Non-PRO"

Votes to reclassify question as PRO/non-PRO:

Non-PRO (3): Tony M, BdiL, Ildiko Santana

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Discussion

Mehmet Hascan (asker) Dec 14, 2010:
Thanks a million.
Jenni Lukac (X) Dec 13, 2010:
Your answer is vindicated Mehmet!
airmailrpl Dec 13, 2010:
It would not be convenient.. It would not be convenient to translate "It would not do for" as "to be useful, beneficial" !!
Mehmet Hascan (asker) Dec 13, 2010:
Thank you all for your comments. This question was asked in a English/Turkish Kudoz entry, and my answer was indeed "would not be convenient". However, the asker chose another answer which meant "to be useful, beneficial". I just wanted to make sure that he chose the correct answer. Many thanks again.
http://www.proz.com/kudoz/english_to_turkish/history/4130186...
B D Finch Dec 13, 2010:
Did it? "... It wasn't the lack of a leg that finally did for him, but advancing years and failing health. His over-active thyroid and high blood ..."
three-legged-cat.co.uk/2008/01/life-with-three-legged-cat/

The comments on this question demonstrate why it is so hard for non-native speakers to master idiomatic English. Such minor variations in phrasing, using some of the most common words in the language, cause such major changes of meaning.

It will do = it is adequate
It won't do = it is not acceptable
It wouldn't do = it would be inappropriate/inconvenient/embarrassing
It did for (somebody) = it finished them off/killed them/destroyed their career
She did for (somebody) = as above or (archaic) she cleaned their house
It will do for now = It will be adequate as a temporary measure ...

I'm sure there are lots more!
British Diana Dec 13, 2010:
It'll do and it won't do Just been browsing in my DCE and recall that the positive "it will do" either means "It will be enough" (We haven't got a lot of wine for the party, but it should do) or "it will be acceptable" ( I can't find my black shoes, so the brown ones will have to do). "Just a sandwich will do (me) for lunch."

But "it won't do" usually means it isn't acceptable, not that it isn't enough. I agree with Jenni's Victorian grandmother ( I had one of those, too i.e. she was born under Queen Victoria) that there is an element of bad or unfitting, unseemly behaviour involved.
JaneTranslates Dec 13, 2010:
@ Tony Speak for yourself, baby! (Well, OK, I'm beginning to get up there....) I'm quite familiar with "now we're really done for," but not "that's done for it"--I think the latter is UK English. And when I've heard/used "Now I'm done for!" it hasn't had the specific meaning of "killed," just a general sense of "I'm going to meet my doom, be punished, suffer unpleasant consequences."

No wonder I can't master idioms with prepositions in Spanish! It's even more complicated in English.
Jenni Lukac (X) Dec 13, 2010:
Heard from my truly Victorian Grandmother, which also highlights my age! The "for" always seemed to me to refer more to what followed than what preceded "not do": It would not do for him to come today, or for him to reply in that way, etc., similar to the way that people express disapproval of someone's behavior by saying "It's just not done" instead of "Nobody does that". That I remember in the States to kill someone was "to do him in".
Tony M Dec 13, 2010:
@ Jane Oops! I think we're both showing our age a bit here ;-) 'to do for', indeed used to be used in the sense of domestic service; but I think it is more than obsolescent, it really went out of fashion donkey's years ago — and cf. that wonderful radio line from WWII: "Can I do you now, Sir?"

However, 'to do for" certianly always has had (AFAIK) and still does have the meaning of 'to finish off', and by extension, 'to kill' — look at the expression: "that's done for it!" or "now we're really done for!"

It's true that 'to do in' is perhaps more common in the context of 'kill'.
JaneTranslates Dec 13, 2010:
Agree and disagree with B D Finch. I agree about the glossary entry. In fact, I think I would use "would not do" as the term, without "for." However, I'm not familiar with "to do for" with the meaning of "to kill." "To do IN" means to kill, but AFAIK, "to do for" usually means "to clean one's house," as in, "Mrs. Brown goes in twice a week and does for elderly Widow Smith." That usage is probably more common in UK English, and I think it's obsolescent.
B D Finch Dec 13, 2010:
Glossary I suggest that you change the source phrase to "would not do for" when entering this in the glossary, as "to do for" means something quite different (to kill).

Responses

+6
9 mins
English term (edited): do for
Selected

it would be embarrassing or inconvenient

Do and for are in separate clauses here.

The whole sentence means it would be embarrassing/inconvenient/inappropriate etc for an Unfortunate Incident to occur during the journey.
Note from asker:
Many thanks, kmtext.
Peer comment(s):
agree Tony M
31 mins
Mòran taing, Tony
agree Jack Doughty : Yes, "would not do" would have been a better question.
52 mins
Mòran taing, Jack
agree B D Finch
2 hrs
Mòran taing, BD
agree BdiL : To put the impersonal construction plainly: people on the journey would dislike that an unf. incident occur. :-) Maurizio
5 hrs
agree jccantrell
6 hrs
agree CHEN-Ling
7 hrs
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Many thanks to you all for your help."
+2
9 mins
English term (edited): do for

must not or should not occur/ would be disastrous

Two ways of putting it.
Note from asker:
Many thanks, Jennie.
Peer comment(s):
agree Tony M
31 mins
Cheers and thanks, Tony.
neutral B D Finch : I think this misses the deliberately understated register of the phrase.
2 hrs
It is the underlying meaning of the understatement.
agree British Diana : without any context, it's difficult to tell if this is ironic (it wouldn't be a good idea)
6 hrs
Thanks Diana. When my grandmother used this tone it was well understood that certain things could not allowed to happen.
Something went wrong...
+2
8 hrs

It would not be convenient

It would not do for => It would not be convenient
Note from asker:
Many thanks, airmailrpl.
Peer comment(s):
agree JaneTranslates : I just noticed that this answer has no agrees, even though it's a good answer, in many contexts. So here's an agree from me! It would not do for a good answer to go unappreciated, and I think this answer will do. If I'm wrong, I'm done for.
5 hrs
thank you
agree British Diana : You're right, Jane, it wouldn't do at all. So I'm doing my bit, too.
11 hrs
thank you
neutral Cilian O'Tuama : but hardly merits a separate posting seeing as kmtext already suggested "would be inconvenient". oder? // you could just agree with other answer and add your slight modification?
2 days 5 hrs
It would not do for a possible suggestion to go unposted
Something went wrong...
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