"I'll do my best" is not good enough? - English Stack Exchange

To sound more positive, a speaker would have to say something like 'I'm going to do my very best, because I really want to help you'. Assuming it's spoken, much ... EnglishLanguage&UsageStackExchangeisaquestionandanswersiteforlinguists,etymologists,andseriousEnglishlanguageenthusiasts.Itonlytakesaminutetosignup. Signuptojointhiscommunity Anybodycanaskaquestion Anybodycananswer Thebestanswersarevotedupandrisetothetop Home Public Questions Tags Users Unanswered Teams StackOverflowforTeams –Collaborateandshareknowledgewithaprivategroup. CreateafreeTeam WhatisTeams? Teams CreatefreeTeam Teams Q&Aforwork Connectandshareknowledgewithinasinglelocationthatisstructuredandeasytosearch. Learnmore "I'lldomybest"isnotgoodenough? AskQuestion Asked 8yearsago Active 6years,11monthsago Viewed 202ktimes 7 2 Ireadsomewherethattheexpression"I'lldomybest"doesn'tsoundverypositive. Isthistrue?Ifso,howdoyousaytoassurethelistnerofyourenthusiasmanddeterminationtoperformtothemaximumextentofyourability. phrase-meaning Share Improvethisquestion Follow askedNov10'13at12:41 FujibeiFujibei 2,2871515goldbadges3333silverbadges4141bronzebadges 3 1 Theidiomaticphrasehasaninherentnon-committaltonetoitandisusuallyaglossingoverfornomorethana'letmesee.'Ontheotherextreme,aguyboastingtohisgirlwouldwanttosay'Ishalldieforyou'(whenhemeans,'letmetry,onlyifitdoesn'tcostabomb.')--Westillneedsomethingmiddle-ground,somethingreal. – Kris Nov10'13at14:46 1 Maybethelistenerisassuredofyourenthusiasmanddeterminationbutnotyourcapability.Wouldyouratheryoursurgeonbesomeonewhohasperformedtheprocedureflawlessly10,000timesbeforeoracompletenovice?Theexperiencedsurgeondoesnotneedtodohisbesttooutperformthenovice. – emory Nov10'13at17:31 Partoftheproblemisthatseveral"authorities"inmotivationandmanagementhavedecreedthat"I'lldomybest"isnotgoodenough,sothephrasehasbecome"poisoned". – HotLicks Nov25'14at19:41 Addacomment  |  3Answers 3 Active Oldest Votes 9 Itdependsonthedegreeofenthusiasmwithwhichitissaid.Ifitoccursas‘I'lldomybest,butI’mnotpromisinganything’,thenitdoesn’tinspireagreatdealofconfidence.Tosoundmorepositive,aspeakerwouldhavetosaysomethinglike‘I’mgoingtodomyverybest,becauseIreallywanttohelpyou’.Assumingit’sspoken,muchdependsonthetoneofvoice,andindeedonthefacialexpression,withwhichitisdelivered. Share Improvethisanswer Follow answeredNov10'13at13:09 BarrieEnglandBarrieEngland 137k1010goldbadges230230silverbadges389389bronzebadges Addacomment  |  6 "I'lldomybest",infact,doesnotsaythatitwillgetdoneandissubjectivesince'yourbest'maynotbeenoughtoaccomplishthetask,regardlessofyourgoodintentions. Ifyouwanttogivethemostpositiveresponse,youwouldhavetosaysomethinglikethis: "Iwillgetitdone." Or "Restassured,itwillgetdone." Share Improvethisanswer Follow editedJun15'20at7:40 CommunityBot 1 answeredNov10'13at14:39 KristinaLopezKristinaLopez 26.2k66goldbadges5353silverbadges111111bronzebadges Addacomment  |  3 Restassuredisverygood(thankyouKristina),butmoreinthespiritof"I'lldomybest"is "Youcancountonme!" Share Improvethisanswer Follow answeredNov25'14at23:24 IchabodEIchabodE 52133silverbadges77bronzebadges Addacomment  |  Highlyactivequestion.Earn10reputation(notcountingtheassociationbonus)inordertoanswerthisquestion.Thereputationrequirementhelpsprotectthisquestionfromspamandnon-answeractivity. Nottheansweryou'relookingfor?Browseotherquestionstaggedphrase-meaningoraskyourownquestion. FeaturedonMeta PleasewelcomeValuedAssociates#999-BellaBlueϩ-SalmonofWisdom Nowlive:Afullyresponsiveprofile Versionlabelsforanswers Related 11 Is"AMoveableFeast"morethanhomecatering? 3 Whatdoes"passion-tearing"mean? 2 Issomething'bestpossible'or'thebestpossible?' 0 differencebetweensuggestandrecommendinarestaurant 0 Meaningof"I'llbreakitforhim,"(Chapter3MobyDick) 1 Whatexactlydoes"readingatgradelevel"mean? 52 Istheword"repeat"reallyusedasasynonymof"vomit"? 1 HowdoItellsomeoneIhadagreattimethelasttimeIsawthem 2 Whydoes"Yourgrace"use"Your"? HotNetworkQuestions Howtomakeaweaponthatneverfriendlyfires? 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