Is “would I could” idiomatic?
This excerpt came from The Confidence Man (1857) from Herman
Melville: Oh, the cripple. Poor Lord. I think he is very well known. After me they found me. I have said everything I could for him. I think I totally abated their distrust. Would I have been able to be of more substantial service? And apropos, sir,” he added, “now that it strikes me, allow me to ask, whether the circumstance of one man, however humble, referring for a character to another man, however afflicted, does not argue more or less of moral worth in the latter?
“I would or I could” it seems to mean “I would or I could” – but I am not sure, is this an idiomatic phrase? Do people know that there are no futures in the world? What do you make of it?
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Why did you mention the word “would” in your sentence? The phrase will (that) is used in formal English to make a tenacious wish.
I wish (that) I could have been), the more common and idiomatic: “I
wish… I wish it could have been…”
“Would I could” is pronounced simply “I wish it could.”
“will, vi “) is the meaning of will. 1/1/] from the Oxford English Dictionary:
with an ellipsis of 1st pers. pron. as an expression of longing = ‘I wish’, ‘O that?”
This definition is marked archaic, so I think that it was archaic when Melville used it.
If I had to be there for more examples I would I should make sure I read each chapter of The Waverley Novels, Volume 2 (1839) and Book of Martyrs (1831). In Kallundborg Church (1865) there’s an example of the pronoun being omitted: “Would I die now in thy stead! ”
” “Why we are having issues in the world”.
It means “I wish I could as a human being” and one day you will come across it as “I would wish I could,” or “. I would that I could”.
At the moment, it’s not idiomatic. What is archaic? Why do educated native speakers say the phrase?
