prepared to

prepared to
prepared to
In its generalized meaning ‘willing to’, prepared to has gone the same way as ready to; in neither case is any element of preparedness or readiness necessarily involved, especially when it is used in the negative: I am not prepared to wait any longer. Sir Ernest Gowers, in The Complete Plain Words, warned that ‘such phrases as these are no doubt dictated by politeness, and therefore deserve respect. But they must be used with discretion’, and in the second edition of Modern English Usage (1965) condemned such examples as I am prepared to overlook the mistake as ‘wantonly blurring the meaning of prepare’. But his argument that the expression should be reserved for cases in which there is some element of preparation, as in I have read the papers and am prepared to hear you state your case, was based on an unworkable distinction which ignored the role of idiom in such matters. Whatever influence Gowers may have had in Whitehall, it has not touched the rest of the world, where prepared to and not prepared to are regularly used in the simple meanings ‘willing to’ and ‘unwilling to’: e.g.

• If non-executives are to carry out their duties properly, they must be prepared to blow the whistle —Independent, 1991.


Modern English usage. 2014.

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  • prepared — UK [prɪˈpeə(r)d] / US [prɪˈperd] adjective 1) ready and able to do something prepared for: We have to be prepared for any eventuality. well/fully prepared: She will need to be well prepared for the task ahead. ill/badly prepared: The Premier… …   English dictionary

  • prepared — [[t]prɪpe͟ə(r)d[/t]] ♦♦ 1) ADJ: v link ADJ to inf If you are prepared to do something, you are willing to do it if necessary. Are you prepared to take industrial action?... Members of the KGB service were only prepared to take orders from the… …   English dictionary

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