For example, information technology gives specific meanings to “should”, “success”, and “responsible”. RFC 2119 documents best practice in using modal verbs, defining “SHOULD” as “there may exist valid reasons in particular circumstances to ignore a particular item, but the full implications must be understood and carefully weighed before choosing a different course.” I define “success” to mean reaching any endpoint in a well-defined procedure that is not a “failure” point. And a module of a computer program is “responsible” for the behaviors that other modules expect of it.

In legal systems descended from the common law of England, “reasonable person” denotes a fictional character used to establish a standard of care in a negligence case, “succeed” (the verb form of “success”) means to establish a balance of probabilities in one’s favor, and “responsible” is roughly synonymous with liability in general. What words would you use instead for these concepts?