Dear experts,

Would you agree that TABLE A MOTION will mean different things to speakers of US and UK English:

table a motion (UK) – place a proposal on the agenda: At last night's meeting the Board of Trustees voted to table a motion to approve our contract extension.

table a motion (US) – remove a proposal from consideration; suspend debate and vote until another time: At a critical point when they had only five minutes left before they had to adjourn, there was a motion to table a motion.

Thank you,
Yuri

I am familiar only with the UK definition:-)

Yes, Yuri, they are different, in the way you describe.

Here are the definitions from the LDOCE:

table2 [transitive]

1 table a proposal/question/motion etc British English to formally present a proposal etc for other people to discuss:

Dr Clark tabled a motion for debate at next month's committee meeting.

2 table a bill/measure/proposal etc American English to leave a bill etc to be discussed or dealt with in the future
_______

The American Heritage Dictionary – true to its name – gives only the American usage (in the second entry):

1. To put or place on a table.
2. To postpone consideration of (a piece of legislation, for example); shelve.
3. To enter in a list or table; tabulate.
_______

Roberts Rules* explains it all for us:

Question 12:

Isn't it always in order to move to table a motion to the next meeting?
Answer:

This question confuses the motion to Lay on the Table with the motion to Postpone to a Certain Time. The purpose of the motion to Lay on the Table is to enable an assembly, by majority vote and without debate, to lay a pending question aside temporarily in order to take up something else of immediate urgency. In ordinary societies it is rarely needed, and hence seldom in order. [RONR (10th ed.), p. 201-210; see also p. 127 of RONR In Brief.]

Rachel
_______