maximus erroris populus magister

/makssmss aroras popyabs majistar/ The people is the greatest master of May. An auxiliary verb qualifying the meaning of another verb by expressing ability, competency, liberty, permission, possibility, probability or contingency. U. S. v. Lexington Mill & E. Co., 232 U.S. 399, 34 S.Ct. 337, 340, 58 L.Ed. 658.

Word "may" usually is employed to imply permissive, optional or discretional, and not mandatory action or conduct. Shea v. Shea, Okl., 537 P.2d 417, 418.

Regardless of the instrument, however, whether constitution, statute, deed, contract or whatever, courts not infrequently construe "may" as "shall" or "must" to the end that justice may not be the slave of grammar. However, as a general rule, the word "may" will not be treated as a word of command unless there is something in context or subject matter of act to indicate that it was used in such sense. Bloom v. Texas State Bd. of Examiners of Psychologists, Tex.Civ.App., 475 S.W.2d 374, 377.

In construction of statutes and presumably also in construction of federal rules word "may" as opposed to "shall" is indicative of discretion or choice between two or more alternatives, but context in which word appears must be controlling factor. U. S. v. Cook, C.A.I11., 432 F.2d 1093, 1098