this post was submitted on 25 Oct 2024
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Indian here. Redditors say that Indians say this a lot. I'd like to tell you that while Indians do use this sentence, it's almost always placed only after a long, somewhat-gone-off-tangent-in-some-places conversation that explained everything well.
Maaaaaaybe it was to convince you without describing tasks, but... mostly, it's not so.
Also, I don't remember hearing it IRL at all. Just felt like I have heard it at least twice in my 18 years of humaning around.
But why use such an awkward construction? Why not "please handle this" or "please take care of this"? Or even "please take the necessary steps to address this"? "Please do the needful" is saying Please [VERB] the [ADJECTIVE]. But the correct construction is to verb a noun. So you need a noun (e.g., "this") to act on.
And additionally, "needful" is an adjective, and rarely ever used anyway. For example, you could probably describe a homeless person as "needful", but it sounds awkward, and most people would say "needy" or "in need."