May you live long

[Untaught88]

Hi,

May you live long and prosper.
May you have many more birthdays.
May you succeed in the examination.
May you fail.
May your teacher punish you.

When we use 'may' to express a wish, should the sentence end with a full stop or an exclamation mark?

 

[Tarheel]

Have you been watching Star Trek reruns? Anyhow, they are not exclamations, so you don't need an exclamation mark.

 

[Untaught88]

No, I haven't been watching it. Is it a movie? Tell me more about it, please. How is it related to my question?

 

[Tarheel]

Star Trek was a TV show that will probably live forever in reruns. Anyhow, it's a Vulcan greeting. One says, "Peace and long life"" and the other says, "Live long and prosper"".

 

[Raymott]

If they had an exclamation mark, it would be because they are imperative statements, not exclamations. Ending an imperative with an exclamation mark used to be a thing.

 

[Tdol]

Hi,

May you live long and prosper.
May you have many more birthdays.
May you succeed in the examination.
May you fail.
May your teacher punish you.

These all sound a bit dated to me- the use of may for a wish is in decline, though it still exists. I think these would sound more natural with I hope. You would need to use punishes in the last sentence with I hope.

 

[Untaught88]

@Tdol, Are the following correct?

I hope you will live long and prosper.
I hope you have many more birthdays.
I hope you will succeed in the examination.

I pray that you will live long and prosper.
I pray that you have many more birthdays.
I pray you will succeed in the examination.

 

[Tarheel]

Yes.

 

[emsr2d2]

It should be noted that if you say "Live long and prosper" as part of any sentence, many people will assume it is a reference to Star Trek. The phrase is very well-known as a quote from that programme.