3 ms·

You would rather what a bus?

by x3n0ph3n3 11y ago

bennyg 11y ago
You knew what he/she was trying to say...
- craigmccaskill 11y ago
  Personally, I don't and I'm a native English speaker. I doubt many who weren't would have any chance of deciphering the meaning here either.
  - ridgeguy 11y ago
    It's just an ellipsis. Or, as my first Google hit said: "the omission from speech or writing of a word or words that are superfluous or able to be understood from contextual clues." So: I would rather [have] a bus any day.
  - jcrawfordor 11y ago
    I see this usage fairly regularly. I'm not 100% certain of this, but I think it might be more common in Britain than America.
  - gdy 11y ago
    Is "I would rather you did..." odd too? Not a native speaker here :)
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
  - EdwardDiego 11y ago
    > Personally, I don't That's more on you than the OP. It's hardly an unknown phrasing.
- x3n0ph3n3 11y ago
  Actually, I didn't. It's an odd word choice, and 'prefer' would have made more sense. Rather is typically used in conjunction with another verb, while prefer isn't.
lstamour 11y ago
rather = prefer, here. As in the choice between self driving cars and buses.
- CWuestefeld 11y ago
  I was also confused, and I'm a native speaker. Understanding that "rather" means "prefer" is obvious. The sentence could be read as "I prefer to be on the road with a bus since I think it's safer". Or it could be "choosing what's most dangerous, I'd rather say it's a bus". It's also not clear what the perspective of the speaker is. It might be that a bus is safer for the rider, but more dangerous for cars around it. So would he rather be on board a bus, or rather on the road with a bus?
  - trelltron 11y ago
    I have no idea how you could get that second interpretation from what he said. And the perspective is clearly inherited from the parent comment, who didn't mention being "on board" a bus, just "on the road with" a bus. No ambiguity in that comment that I can see. EDIT: I guess the use of rather in this context could be a colloquialism?

You would rather what a bus?

bennyg 11y ago

You knew what he/she was trying to say...

craigmccaskill 11y ago
Personally, I don't and I'm a native English speaker. I doubt many who weren't would have any chance of deciphering the meaning here either.
- ridgeguy 11y ago
  It's just an ellipsis. Or, as my first Google hit said: "the omission from speech or writing of a word or words that are superfluous or able to be understood from contextual clues." So: I would rather [have] a bus any day.
- jcrawfordor 11y ago
  I see this usage fairly regularly. I'm not 100% certain of this, but I think it might be more common in Britain than America.
- gdy 11y ago
  Is "I would rather you did..." odd too? Not a native speaker here :)
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
- EdwardDiego 11y ago
  > Personally, I don't That's more on you than the OP. It's hardly an unknown phrasing.
x3n0ph3n3 11y ago
Actually, I didn't. It's an odd word choice, and 'prefer' would have made more sense. Rather is typically used in conjunction with another verb, while prefer isn't.

lstamour 11y ago

rather = prefer, here. As in the choice between self driving cars and buses.

CWuestefeld 11y ago
I was also confused, and I'm a native speaker. Understanding that "rather" means "prefer" is obvious. The sentence could be read as "I prefer to be on the road with a bus since I think it's safer". Or it could be "choosing what's most dangerous, I'd rather say it's a bus". It's also not clear what the perspective of the speaker is. It might be that a bus is safer for the rider, but more dangerous for cars around it. So would he rather be on board a bus, or rather on the road with a bus?
- trelltron 11y ago
  I have no idea how you could get that second interpretation from what he said. And the perspective is clearly inherited from the parent comment, who didn't mention being "on board" a bus, just "on the road with" a bus. No ambiguity in that comment that I can see. EDIT: I guess the use of rather in this context could be a colloquialism?