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I've got a question referring to the following sentences:

  1. If you do not do as you are told, you do not live up to your teachers' or parents' orders.

and

  1. If you do not do as you are told, you ignore your teachers' or parents' orders.

Is there a real difference in the meaning of both sentences from the perspective of a native speaker?

Is sentence 1) definitely wrong from the perspective of a native speaker?

Thanks for your help! Best regards, Thomas

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  • One situation can meet two or more criteria without those criteria being identical.
    – Davo
    Commented Mar 12, 2021 at 15:47

2 Answers 2

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Yes, there is a real difference between the two, to a native speaker. Sentence #1 is not idiomatic (and so a native speaker would not use it); the idiom is "living up to zzz's expectations". There is a quite a difference between disobeying a direct order and not living up to expectations; although the latter may include direct disobedience, it usually refers to making bad choices freely (for example: a college student who fails his courses due to partying rather than studying has not lived up to his parents' expectations).

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Orders can be ignored or followed, not ‘lived up to’. You live up to expectations, for example. Sentence 2 is okay. Sentence 1 as written is definitely wrong. It should look like ‘you don’t follow your teachers’ orders’.

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