密歇根新闻广播 “druthers”的趣闻

 

If we had our druthers, we would spend every morning nerding out about language and grammar.

Fortunately, we do get the opportunity to flex¹ our language muscles every Sunday. We're also fortunate to have awesome² listeners like Kalen, who recently asked us where the phrase "if I had my druthers" comes from.

Kalen, there's nothing we'd druther do than figure this out.

"Druther" is a mashed³ together version of the phrase "would rather." If you say "would rather" quickly enough, you can see how these two words blur⁴ together as "druther." When someone says "if I had my druthers," they're talking about what they would do if they had their choice or preference in a matter.

This phrase shows up in various places in popular culture, including, perhaps most famously, Al Capp's long-running comic strip Lil' Abner. In fact, Capp used "druther" in his comic so often, he's sometimes mistaken for having coined the term.

While Capp may have helped popularize "druther," the earliest print reference we have so far is actually from 1833. Etymologist⁵ Barry Popick tracked down this quote in an issue of American Turf Register and Sporting Magazine: "I'd druther live in the woods anytime by myself than on the best plantation⁶ in the country."

In this example, "druther" is used as a verb, but it can also be used as a noun.

In Mark Twain's 1896 novel Tom Sawyer, Detective Huck Finn says to Tom, "Any way you'd druther have it, that is the way I'd druther have it." When Tom responds to Huck, he uses "druther" as a noun: "There ain't any druthers about it Huck Finn. Nobody said anything about druthers."

Over time, we've seen variants⁷ of "druthers" such as "ruthers" and "rathers," though those don't seem to be quite as popular. Interestingly, Google Books says that "druthers" has been on the rise since the 1960s -- do you use it?

1 flex   

n.皮线，花线；vt.弯曲或伸展

参考例句：

• We wound off a couple of yards of wire for a new lamp flex.我们解开几码电线作为新的电灯花线。
• He gave his biceps a flex to impress the ladies.他收缩他的肱二头肌以吸引那些女士们的目光。

2 awesome   

adj.令人惊叹的，难得吓人的，很好的

参考例句：

• The church in Ireland has always exercised an awesome power.爱尔兰的教堂一直掌握着令人敬畏的权力。
• That new white convertible is totally awesome.那辆新的白色折篷汽车简直棒极了.

3 mashed   

a.捣烂的

参考例句：

• two scoops of mashed potato 两勺土豆泥
• Just one scoop of mashed potato for me, please. 请给我盛一勺土豆泥。

4 blur   

n.模糊不清的事物；vt.使模糊，使看不清楚

参考例句：

• The houses appeared as a blur in the mist.房子在薄雾中隐隐约约看不清。
• If you move your eyes and your head,the picture will blur.如果你的眼睛或头动了，图像就会变得模糊不清。

5 etymologist   

n.语源学

参考例句：

6 plantation   

n.种植园，大农场

参考例句：

• His father-in-law is a plantation manager.他岳父是个种植园经营者。
• The plantation owner has possessed himself of a vast piece of land.这个种植园主把大片土地占为己有。

7 variants   

n.变体( variant的名词复数 )；变种；变型；（词等的）变体

参考例句：

• Those variants will be preserved in the'struggle for existence". 这些变异将在“生存竞争”中被保留下来。 来自辞典例句
• Like organisms, viruses have variants, generally called strains. 与其他生物一样，病毒也有变种，一般称之为株系。 来自辞典例句