obliged or obligated?

oops, I meant pronunciation, of course :)

"British English" has two interpretations, as explained by The Oxford Companion to the English Language:

"Broadly understood, British English is the English language as used in Great Britain (England, Scotland, and Wales) or the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland...

Narrowly understood, British English is the form of standard English used in Britain at learge or more specifically in English, and more specifically still in south-eastern England."

Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage is clearly using the latter interpretation.

KraJ, the first cite for "obligated" in the OED is from Richardson's "Pamela" - so it is not an Americanism.

I agree with Tom. Not only that, but it saves space! :)

I came across this forum after my supervisor - I am a lawyer in training - reprimanded me for using the word 'obligated'.

I was thrown off when he told me that it was not a word, and the correct word was 'obliged'. Sought some answers here. Good to see I wasn't completely making up words.

Very amusing.

I have seen the word 'obligated' used in an occupational context, where the employee has been trained at the expense of his employer and is contractually bound tothat company for a set period thereafter (presumably to dissuade him from getting the training paid for and then switching to another employer immediately thereafter). Thus for example, an online acquainance of mine describes himself as an 'Obligated Engineer'.

"To feel "obligated" has a connotation of being morally required to do something you don't want to do. To feel "obliged" has a connotation of being morally required to do something you DO want to do. "

That's just simply not true. As far as I'm aware, the word 'obliged' can always take the place of the word 'obligated'. However, the reverse is not true.

'Obliged' can and does certainly mean to feel constrained or coerced into an action.

Or somewhat subtle in difference that you feel responsible

It can mean you feel indebted to someone. However, this can be appreciative 'I am very much obliged'. Similarly, when using this positive spin on the word, you can oblige someone.

There are a number of other ways you can use the word too.

'I have seen the word ‘obligated’ used in an occupational context'

That definitely does seem to be a place where obliged does not seem quite strong enough.

Maybe using the wrong word could become a crime - my pet hate is the increasing confusion between "bring" and "take".

Charlie says to Jake "I will bring you to your mother"

for all ur help i am much "obliged". did i use the word wrong? that is my question.

peace ...

He was obligated to attend his sister-in-law's party because she threatened to key his car if he did not turn up.

He felt obliged to attend his sister-in-law's party because he felt indebted to her after she paid his speeding tickets.

Have I used them correctly???

I agree with JanxSpirit. Societies evolve and the words they use evolve with them. If this were not the case, we'd all be speaking like we're from a Shakespeare play. This is not meant to imply I enjoy seeing incorrect words become accepted as correct. I don't enjoy it at all. However, I also don't feel obliged to judge a person by their use of grammar (or their accent). To me British English sounds no more educated than American English simply because I don't factor a person's grammar into my decision to enjoy someone's company, or not.

It's interesting to see our languages evolve, grow and change. Some words that were nouns are now used as verbs ("text me" vs. "send me a text message") and I see no reason to find that offensive. New words are added to our dictionaries each year as well, simply because their use has become so common. It might be interesting to write a Vook about it.

By the way, is it possible for "oblige" to be used with animate nouns?

ex. He was obliged "by the teacher" to study English.

Is this sentence acceptable?

That sentence sounds to me kind of awkward but I think technically correct, based on the meaning of "oblige" in my Webster's Collegiate Dictionary.

Thank you for your judgement.

Do you have a book that states the rule that 'obliged by' cannot be followed by a person?

Is this sentence acceptabale?

No one can oblige you to stay in a job that you hate.

I am mid-investigation. So, while I have not yet found a definitive answer, I can say this much:

There is strong evidence showing that "obligated" is NOT an "Americanism". Consider these references in classic English literature (source: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/obligated ):

- Charles Dickens in 'Great Expectations':
"So, he'd come with a most tremenjous crowd and make such a row at the doors of the houses where we was, that they used to be obligated to have no more to do with us and to give us up to him."

- Jane Austen in 'Persuasion':
"I believe Mrs Charles is not quite pleased with my not inviting them oftener; but you know it is very bad to have children with one that one is obligated to be checking every moment; "don't do this," and "don't do that;" or that one can only keep in tolerable order by more cake than is good for them."

"Obliged" is the same as in Portuguese language. Comes from the Roman Empire. In Portuguese we use "obrigado" to say "thank you". It means "I fell obliged to return you a favour". We say "muito obrigado" too, which in old English is "much obliged". Its Latin, but as in many English worlds derivated from Latin, there are two similar spelling words in English meaning the very same thing. In Portuguese, "obliged" and "obligated" are "obrigado" only.In Latin the word "obligatus" or the participle verb "obligare" means "to link", or that two parts are linked by a deal.

I wonder whether too many comments here are pedontic?
I arrived at this site through hearing the word obligated being used whilst watching Glee. As a Scotsman speaking English it simply smacked of Americanism to me. Having read the above it has changed my opinion though. Always a good thing.

Fascinating, thank you all.
I do believe language is a living thing.
Though i had never heard of 'obligated' and believed it to be an error, i did understand what was meant.
Now i see that lots of people know it , even Jane Austen , and use it in the same way as 'obliged' ( with the exception of attourneys ).Which is fine by me.

To the community.

This is not an evolution of langauge but a misinterpretation The verb is to oblige, as part of the grammatical structure driven by Latin. Obligate was introduced into the English language as an Americanism and first appears in print in 1753. Why is not certain but has been attributed to ignorance caused by the lack of education that existed in neo-america at the time.

Obligate, orientate, commentate - all silly words that don't need to exist. Oblige, orient, comment are perfectly fine.

Mix-ups in understanding lead to unnecessary "ate"s on the end of back-formed verbs. Proclamation -> proclamate? Declaration -> declarate? Obviously not.

Bischoppe Cesariense..reconsilede to God a man ***obligate*** to the deville for þe luffe of a mayde. -Higden's Polychronicon, c1475

obligate (v.) 1540s, "to bind, connect;" 1660s, "to put under moral obligation," from L. obligatus, pp. of obligare

Obligate is not an Americanism ... It's been in English since about 1475 ... which is before Columbus stumbled over the Americas. As a verb since the 1540s which is before Jamestown ... You can giv credit ... or blame ... the Americans for this word.

^^^Oops ... CAN'T blame or credit the Americans.

Bischoppe Cesariense..reconsilede to God a man ***obligate*** to the deville for þe luffe of a mayde. -Higden's Polychronicon, c1475

In the case you quote "obligate" is an adjective, pronounced obligut.

Since this lively thread carries on, I thought I'd add in my two cents' worth (or, rather, that of both The American Heritage Dictionary and The Concise Oxford Dictionary).

What I've always loved about the AHD are the synonyms and usage notes which are invaluable with word confusions such as this. And they don't disappoint now. Here's what they say, verbatim, for both 'obligate' and 'oblige':

ob-li-gate | transitive verb | To bind, compel, or constrain by a legal or moral tie. See Synonyms at force. See Usage note at oblige.
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o-blige | transitive verb |
(1) To cause to do or refrain from doing something; constrain by physical, legal, social, or moral means.
(2) To make indebted or grateful. Used with 'to' .
(3) To gratify the wishes of; do a service or favor for.
oblige | intransitive verb | To do a service or favor; perform a courtesy.

"Usage note: In the sense of rendering a service or kindness, oblige, favor, and accommodate are frequently interchangeable. Oblige and the somewhat more forceful favor generally apply to gratuitous service. Accommodate can be used in that sense, but is applicable also to business dealings, such as to services provided by banks, hospitals, hotels, and the like. Oblige and obligate are interchangeable in the sense of genuine constraint, but not in instances involving a sense of gratitude for a service or favor. A person is obliged (not obligated) when he feels a debt of gratitude and nothing more; he is obligated (or obliged) when under direct compulsion to follow a given course."
---------------------------

And while I'm not going to type out the entire entry under 'force' here are the most applicable parts:

"Synonyms: force, compel, coerce, constrain, necessitate, oblige, obligate. These verbs mean to make a person or thing follow a prescribed or dictated course ... Oblige is applicable when compliance is caused by the operation of authority, necessity, or moral or ethical considerations, and obligate when compulsion is exerted by terms of a legal contract or promise, or by the dictates of one's conscience or sense of propriety."

As for The Concise Oxford Dictionary, here we go:

Obligate v.t. Bind (person, legally or morally) to do.
Oblige
(1) v.t. (arch. or Law). Bind (person, oneself) by oath, promise, contract, etc., to person or to do.
(2) Be binding on; constrain, compel, to do; make indebted by conferring favour, gratify by doing or with, perform a service for (person requesting it, or abs.).
(3) v.i. (colloq.) Make contribution to entertainment (with song etc., or abs.).

And "much obliged" is simply defined as "thank you"
----------------------------

Personally? I got much more from AHD, as usual. Hope y'all find it useful too.

The words 'oblige' and 'obligate' both have a long history but the simple fact is that the Americans seem to prefer 'obligate' and the British 'oblige'.

I was about to suggest that Americans enjoy the fancy longer word, for example 'burglarize' instead of 'burgle' but then I realised that we Brits say 'acclimatise' and Americans say 'acclimate'. So I won't.
Yes - I do know there is inconsistency in the spelling above between 'realised', 'burglarized' and 'acclimatized' but that is another kettle of Anglo-American fish...

I was about to suggest that Americans enjoy the fancy longer word, for example 'burglarize' instead of 'burgle' but then I realised that we Brits say 'acclimatise' and Americans say 'acclimate'. So I won't.
Yes - I do know there is inconsistency in the spelling above between 'realised', 'burglarize' and 'acclimatised' but that is another kettle of Anglo-American fish...

In summary obliged is used in general parlance, obligated is used with a slight difference in meaning in legal parlance. Obliged is a much less awkward word and sounds better. Obligated is an hard word and like "fall" and "obfuscate" I doubt if many Scottish use obligated except in a legal context.

In summary obliged is used in general parlance, obligated is used with a slight difference in meaning in legal parlance. Obliged is a much less awkward word and sounds better. Obligated is an hard word and like "fall" and "obfuscate" has dropped out of use here in the UK. I doubt if many Scottish use obligated except in a legal context. stupid page wont let me post under my name lol.

Ob-Li-Ge, Ob-Li-Ga - life goes on, brah!

hmmm Had argument with the word ''OBLIGATED'' en ''COMMITED'' . My argument is ... you cannot use the word obligated when referring to a partner saying '' It's easier to maintain a long distance relationship whereas if you are together you are obligated to be with your partner ''. No one is obligated to be with a partner and if said commited it's more a positive thing .....more with love. Somehow, I think obligated feels more forced while obliged is more a feeling of wanting it yourself. It's how you use it in a context. If you say, I am obligating myself to commit to my partner , it is more a choice than forced too. I OBLIGED, I give in ( a choice ). OBLIGATED , A MUST !!!

hmmm Had argument with the word ''OBLIGATED'' en ''COMMITED'' . My argument is ... you cannot use the word obligated when referring to a partner saying '' It's easier to maintain a long distance relationship whereas if you are together you are obligated to be with your partner ''. No one is obligated to be with a partner and if said commited it's more a positive thing .....more with love. Somehow, I think obligated feels more forced while obliged is more a feeling of wanting it yourself. It's how you use it in a context. If you say, I am obligating myself to commit to my partner , it is more a choice than forced too. I OBLIGED, I give in ( a choice ). OBLIGATED , A MUST !!!

"I feel obligated to point out you are obliged to provide me with an explanation as to why this is an issue." I feel honour bound to point out that: it is incumbent on you to explain why this is an issue.

Personally I never, ever use it, obliged covering both meanings - duty, and expressing gratitude, especially in BrE.

It is certainly more common in American books than in British ones (it is considered very formal in BrE):

http://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=obligated%3Aeng_us_2012%2Cobliged%3Aeng_us_2012%2Cobligated%3Aeng_gb_2012%2Cobliged%3Aeng_gb_2012%2C&year_start=1940&year_end=2000&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2Cobligated%3Aeng_us_2012%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Cobliged%3Aeng_us_2012%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Cobligated%3Aeng_gb_2012%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Cobliged%3Aeng_gb_2012%3B%2Cc0

But, its origins seem to be British alright. And it's older than the OED's citation of Pamela (1741), appearing in Nathan Baileys's Dictionarium Britannicum of 1730, and in 'The four years voyages of capt. George Roberts', co-authored by Daniel Defoe, in 1726.

In fact we can beat the OED by some thirty years: this is from 1714 - "and I, as in Conscience bound, shall always own my self highly Obligated to you for the same, and acknowledge my self, Gentlemen" = Pax in Crumena, Thomas Rands, London 1714.

http://books.google.pl/books?id=NcEUAAAAQAAJ&pg=PP8&dq=obligated&hl=en&sa=X&ei=AeRcU57_GY-A7QauloHAAw&ved=0CEYQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=obligated&f=false

Obliged refers to something one should do, or even pleased to do. Obligated refers to something one is expected or supposed to do.

Obligated is simply clumsy grammar - obliged applies wherever both words might apply!

I find this entire thread quite puzzling and amusing.

The beauty of the English language is that it is not static and constantly evolves. Just because a word had a meaning doesn't mean that meaning or usage is permanently fixed. For instance how many ejaculations are in the bible and how fewer people are gay today than in the 16th century.

Outside of law, the definition in popular use is as correct as the original.

I just love the rainbow display of perceived competence/understanding in the debatement of these 2 words lol..you'll find arguments that range from comically ignorant, to simple but precise, all the way up to over elaborately intelligent. Its great! (Is over elaborately even a "word"/grammatically correct in this case? I initially typed, "...overly elaborately intelligent[.]", but ultimately chose to edit it. Looks like I found the next subject of/to^ debate! ^ Which is correct; '..subject of debate[!]' or '..subject to debate[!]'? Look at that, I found yet another!)
Although I am being genuine in what I've just written, I also did so to illustrate just how endless the list is when it comes to the amount of things that can be debated over when it comes to language-ESPECIALLY the English language. While some of them do actually have a clear/concise right or wrong answer, many are subjective to culture, location, topic, situation, &/or opinion. This topic def belongs to the latter. You would have to assess the context of the situation in order to choose which form of the word is more fitting. However, as a [very] general rule, I typically see/use/refer to 'obligated' as more of a negative sense of the word &'obliged' as the more positive sense. I can actually remember the specific situation that developed my understandings in this manner..it goes all the way back to me being 8 years old watching the timeless,classic Tim Allen movie, Jungle 2 Jungle (which is still as entertaining to watch now as it was then) when his young teen/pre-teen son(who has come to live with him in urban America after being raised in some village tribe that most would refer to as 'uncivilized') asks him what 'obligated' means, when Tim Allens character is explaining to him that he has to leave for the day to go to work. He explains it as, "..something that I have to do that I don't necessarily want to do." Tims character has a gf who is very unaccepeting of his son&his odd ways of behaving& during a phone conversation with her, Tims character uses the word 'obligated' when it came to what his reasons were for going to get his son/allowing him to stay there,which his son over hears and obviously gets upset. Because he now thinks his dad never wanted him to come home with him, he only did it because he had no choice. If you haven't seen the movie, you need to stop what you're doing right now,& go watch it. You can thank me later. Anyways, that's my take on this matter.. Hopefully it's of some use to someone.