Re: USAGE: I'd rather (was: Re: Journalists)
| From: | Mia Soderquist <happycritter@...> |
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| Date: | Thursday, June 28, 2007, 8:41 |
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On 6/27/07, Mark J. Reed <markjreed@...> wrote:
>
> I wasn't using any guide but my own native intuition... however:
>
>
> On 6/27/07, caeruleancentaur <caeruleancentaur@...> wrote:
> > It is impossible to discern which is meant when the contraction "I'd"
> > is used.
>
> Perhaps true in general, but at least IML *"I had rather" is not a
> valid phrase, while "I would rather" is.
FWIW, I have heard "I had rather", e.g. "I had rather stick my head in an
oven than go to another distant cousin's wedding." It's not as common for
sure, but I know I've heard it from my grandmother, at least. Then again,
she said an awful lot of strange things that I usually attributed to her
growing up in far-off, exotic, rural Texas.
M.