Talk:rather

Quotations
I originally put in the ridiculous list of quotations to show that quotations don't necessarily add to the quality of an entry. These actually serve to show that the usage of the term has changed very little since Chaucer's time, which is interesting, but they (intentionally) do it badly. The quotations are overly long, not particularly helpful in divining the meaning, and probably too numerous. The definitions could probably be improved as well. They're (intentionally) very minimal.

At this point, I'm not sure how many of the quotations to take out entirely or replace with better ones, or how to trim the remaining ones down. It doesn't seem right to clear them out entirely, but really, they're not doing a lot of good either. -dmh 19:41, 17 Dec 2004 (UTC)

not really a, but rather b.
theres an entire use of "rather" missing here. a meaning not like the two meanings allready given, but rather closer to "more like" or something like that, which seems rather missing in this article lygophile 13:07, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

"For sense 1 (preferably), would is nearly always contracted to 'd (see examples given above)."
rather strong statement. would expect "would is frequently contracted." i, for one, do not "nearly always" employ contractions. aside from that...is the sentence even needed in this entry? --98.116.115.220 04:11, 18 January 2009 (UTC)


 * The usage note in question has since been deleted entirely, without any explanation (see http://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=rather&oldid=8040719). I suspect that it was deleted because, as I was once told (and was hoping to confirm by coming here), the expression "I'd rather" is actually a contraction of the fixed expression "I had rather", not of "I would rather", making the statement about contracting "would" irrelevant and misleading. Can anybody confirm? If so, it would surely be appropriate to have a usage note explaining this fixed expression. 66.130.224.182 19:08, 19 October 2014 (UTC)

Old British interjection
There's an old British interjection that I don't think our entry covers adequately, something like: "Would you like a slice of cake?" "Rather!" It's the sort of slang that a schoolboy might have said in the early to mid-20th century, and I think it might be stressed on the second syllable. Equinox ◑ 23:36, 13 May 2015 (UTC)
 * Very much a P. G. Wodehouse-era word - see this ngram. I've added it as an interjection with a couple of examples. Keith the Koala (talk) 13:07, 15 August 2015 (UTC)


 * Of this interjection, John Camden Hotten's Slang Dictionary (1873) says "Very often pronounced RAYTHER!". (Compare .) Equinox ◑ 20:26, 19 June 2021 (UTC)

Always with would
Is this true? Is it ungrammatical to say, for example: When my time comes, I will rather die than abjure? There are a lot of attestions to be found for "I will rather...". Kolmiel (talk) 21:21, 1 November 2015 (UTC)

Now usually followed by than
What used to follow it before today's than? --Backinstadiums (talk) 10:32, 7 October 2019 (UTC)


 * Simply nothing. Look at the examples: "I'd rather be with you." Equinox ◑ 10:33, 7 October 2019 (UTC)


 * I don't get this. "I'd rather be with you" doesn't sound old at all like that implies, besides how would one form that sentence with 'than' then, if 'than' is the 'now common' thing after it to make it work? The "now usually followed by than" statement feels like it's misleading people, if it's implying that 'than' goes in the next word position, instead of being separated from 'rather' in a use that includes what state is being preferred over like "I'd rather be with you than go". Which then leads to saying "I'd rather be with you" doesn't say anything about the claim that there used to be no than used, as firstly that seems to be perfectly current use as said before and secondly if this were from times of old it doesn't show any way of how they used to form "be with you than go" without a 'than'. They just supposedly didn't ever say what was being compared to? I find myself doubting that, so the whole thing about "usually followed by than" is unclear. And again, it seems to be perfectly current use to not include a comparison starting with 'than' after it, not that it's some new common practice to do so. Don't want this to go too much longer (I suck at making things brief), but it feels like the "now usually followed by than" is just referring to the times that 'than' follows directly after 'rather' in the pattern of the quotation, which my next point is that feels like a different type of use pattern differing from "I'd rather [x] than [x]". Just has a feels unclear vibe to me WillWow mc (talk) 08:53, 30 April 2020 (UTC)


 * "I'd rather be with you than (some other situation)" e.g. be alone, or be with her, or be in Moscow. Without some point of comparison, whether stated explicitly or just assumed, "rather" cannot mean anything. Equinox ◑ 15:15, 30 April 2020 (UTC)

will rather and should rather also exist
Could somebody add an example for each? --Backinstadiums (talk) 10:43, 7 October 2019 (UTC)

had rather
What meaning of had is used in had rather? --Backinstadiums (talk) 17:35, 6 December 2019 (UTC)
 * on the analogy of the now archaic I had liefer ‘I should hold it dearer’: I had rather err with Plato than be right with Horace—Shelley, 1819; I had rather gaze on a new ice age than these familiar things—J. Winterson, 1985. --Backinstadiums (talk) 15:14, 3 September 2021 (UTC)

rather (someone) than me
I'm glad that I don't have to experience what someone else has to do or go through. A: "My boss is making me come in this weekend to do an inventory of the entire store  ''B: "Wow, rather you than me. I'm going to a baseball game this weekend!"'' https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/rather+you+than+me --Backinstadiums (talk) 15:25, 17 September 2020 (UTC)

would rather
isn't it idiomatic enough, wouldn't not being possible here? --Backinstadiums (talk) 11:57, 25 August 2021 (UTC)