4 ms·
"Do the needful" is used in Nigeria as well. So i feel like it is almost certainly an extinct British phrase.
by famouswaffles 3y ago
"Do the needful" is used in Nigeria as well. So i feel like it is almost certainly an extinct British phrase.
- ignoramous 3y agoTFA agrees: Do the needful originated in India, is commonly used in African countries, and was once heard frequently in the United Kingdom as well. After the Victorian period, its usage in the West died out, but with the increase in outsourcing to and from India, it started catching the ear of English speakers in the West again.
- _delirium 3y agoYou can definitely find it in 19th-century UK books on Google Books. Doesn't seem to be very common, but it is used in a pretty similar way to the way Indian English uses it today. From an 1833 English court opinion [1]: > This letter was immediately given by the bankrupt to the defendant, with directions that as the voyage was altered, he, the defendant, would do the needful. The opinion then spends several additional pages trying to determine what precisely was legally "needful" in this situation. [1] https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Law_Journal_Reports/cP9QAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq="do+the+needful"&pg=RA3-PA211 https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Law_Journal_Reports...