What we might have done instead
Historical revisionism may have gotten a boost last month on the presidential campaign trail. A candidate made what were interpreted as approving noises in reference to the of Japanese-Americans during World War II.
This internment is widely seen as one of the great American public policy blunders of the 20th century, and a blot on the record of President Franklin Roosevelt, who ordered it. But one of the leading presidential contenders is not so sure. In an interview touted as 鈥渆xclusive,鈥� he said he didn鈥檛 know whether he would have supported or opposed the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II.听
And so 鈥渢he news鈥� out of the interview was that the man did not say unequivocally that the internment was a bad thing. This led to an whose headline 鈥� as it appeared , at least 鈥� was 鈥淸Candidate] May Have Backed Japanese Internment During WWII.鈥澛�
The copy-editing world was briefly abuzz over this 鈥� not on the politics of the issue, at least not overtly, but on the grammar of it. The candidate wasn鈥檛 born until after the end of World War II and thus couldn鈥檛 have 鈥渂acked鈥� anything during it. The situation was a 鈥渃ounterfactual鈥� or hypothetical rather than an open possibility. And so the headline should have read, according to the traditional view, 鈥淸Candidate] Might Have Backed Japanese Internment During WWII.鈥�
And the headline did appear that way in some .听
Headline writers everywhere, though, are squeezed for space and time, and so they have an incentive to regard may and might as synonymous. The may/might distinction is under pressure.
These two words are examples of 鈥渕odals,鈥� or modal verbs. That鈥檚 the term for must, should, and similar words used to 鈥渆xpress ideas such as obligation, permission, possibility, and intention,鈥� as the dictionary puts it. You may have learned these as 鈥渁uxiliary鈥� or 鈥渉elping鈥� verbs. They cover situations that are not in the straight 鈥渋ndicative鈥� mood 鈥� e.g., 鈥淛ack is walking the dog.鈥�
In the present tense, may and might serve to express possibility, with, to my mind, may suggesting greater probability. Mignon Fogarty seems to agree with me; she offers a helpful mnemonic: 鈥淚 remember the difference by thinking that I should use might when something is a mighty stretch鈥�; that is, less likely.
The American Heritage Dictionary has a long 鈥淯sage Note鈥� on may and might in which it disagrees with Grammar Girl and me on the probability issue: 鈥淚n practice ... few people make this distinction.鈥�
The dictionary is in favor, though, of 鈥渕ight鈥� rather than 鈥渕ay鈥� in situations like the presidential candidate鈥檚 utterances on the Japanese-Americans鈥� internment.听
To quote further from the Usage Note: 鈥淜eeping the two forms distinct reduces ambiguity. 鈥楬e may have drowned,鈥� for example, is best used to mean that it is unknown whether the man drowned, not that the man narrowly escaped drowning.鈥�
