Using better by itself is fine in an informal context, and "had better" is only required for formal contexts. And I don't think a meme on the internet counts as a formal context.

And also, 🤓☝️

[–] OfCourseNot@fedia.io 3 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (6 children)

That'd be a contraction of 'would' in this case, wouldn't it? As an ESL speaker I used to find these grammar 'mistakes' (for lack of a better word) made more difficult for me to parse the sentences. As with code 'written once but read many times' would apply here.

[–] candybrie@lemmy.world 7 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

It would be a contraction of had: "I had better write..." Using would there doesn't make sense.

[–] OfCourseNot@fedia.io 2 points 3 months ago

More or less my point, languages are weird with lots of arbitrary idiomatic things—'would rather' but 'had better'.

After posting the comment I've thought 'wait, it makes more sense for it to be should' so my guesses are a bit off today.

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