Although should implies obligation or necessity and would indicates undecided desire or intention, the phrases would/ʹd like to and should like to do not differ semantically, except that should like to is used in written British style. This paper investigates the two expressions synchronically and diachronically in corpora, namely the COHA, COCA, GloWbE, BYU‐BNC, and BNCweb. Historically, should like to was more frequent before the 1850s, but has almost disappeared from American English in the 20th and 21st centuries. Following American English, should like to has almost perished in the Inner, Outer and Expanding Circles of English. It was overtaken by would/ʹd like to, which flourished until the 1970s, and has subsequently decreased in use, despite remaining common in contemporary English. Filling the gap, would/ʹd love to has increased in use over time. The paper discusses would/ʹd love to as a popular expression in the future.