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I do not understand how this sentence makes sense:

you’re more than due a vacation

Should it not be "due for"? If not, why? What dictionary entry (e.g. Oxford) would that be?

1 Answer 1

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Taking Oxford Dictionaries as one available for free:

You’re more than due for a vacation

uses

1.2(Of a person) having reached a point where the thing mentioned is required or owed:

Hence:

You have spend too much time not on vacation, and it is about time you took one.

But

You’re more than due a vacation

uses

1.3(Of a thing) required or owed as a legal or moral obligation:

Hence:

Your employers owe you a vacation.

This would also correspond with the sense "1. Owed or owing." at wiktionary which also has an example that is of a more directly comparable form ("He is due four weeks of back pay"). Wiktionary though while often excellent can be dangerous to rely on due to its wiki-based nature, especially when not backed up with quotations.

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  • Thanks, for a non native speaker, could you rewrite the sentence without the usage of due so I can understand its exact meaning?
    – Silkiar
    Jan 14, 2015 at 15:16
  • How about the above edit? It's probably a bit strong, but it's a bit clumsy to state without using due. especially since one meaning corresponds with the other so often when we say one the fact that it sounds a bit like saying the other, and they are both true, will be part of the reason we chose due rather than another way of saying it.
    – Jon Hanna
    Jan 14, 2015 at 15:25
  • If I may ask another clarification: what is the usage in this sentence: The world is due 'a major cyber attack causing widespread harm' before 2025, say experts
    – Silkiar
    Jan 14, 2015 at 15:38
  • That it's to be expected. Likewise "we're due some rain"; one would expect that this thing would happen by that time (or if a time is not stated, would happen soon).
    – Jon Hanna
    Jan 14, 2015 at 15:42
  • I cannot find a suitable entry in the Oxford dictionary :( It confuses me, it says "the baby is due in.. But this is something else, it says "world is due sth in". Another dictionary says "we are dome FOR some rain".
    – Silkiar
    Jan 14, 2015 at 15:56

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