"Death shall lose" as an attitude may not be strictly correct...
In E's defence, the tradition of normative English grammar is that "shall" expresses a determination or volition, whereas "will" expresses a fact statement.
I will not be having cake, because the restaurant is out of it,
vs
I shall not be having cake, because I am on a diet.
the tradition of normative English grammar is that "shall" expresses a determination or volition, whereas "will" expresses a fact statement.
Actually, believe it or not, the tradition of "normative English grammar" (i.e. high-status language) is that what you what you wrote is correct for persons other than the first. For the first person (I/we), it's the reverse.
I honestly don't know what the origin of this distinction is, unless it's the fact that British people seem to say "I shall" a lot.
Update: This post has also been superseded - new comments belong in the latest thread.
The second thread has now also exceeded 500 comments, so after 42 chapters of MoR it's time for a new thread.
From the first thread: