would that I could

“Would” is an interesting word and used in certain ways can have an unintended meaning.  For example, “We would ask that you park on the north side of the building,” Implies that if the circumstances were different, we would ask that of you, but since they aren’t, well, go ahead and do whatever you want.”  Rather than say, “We would ask that you park on the north side of the building,”  say simply, “We ask that you park on the north side of the building.”  Or even better, “Please park on the north side of the building.”   

                We often hear the phrase, “I would agree with you.”  This is rather non-committal and I am often tempted to ask, “You WOULD agree with me, or you DO agree with me?  You would agree with me if I were to change my mind about it?  You would agree with me if no one else were around to hear you say it?  What is it you are saying, exactly?”

                 A popular hymn says, “Lord, I would follow Thee,” which implies, “If things were different, I would follow Thee…”  “If it were easier, I would follow Thee…”  “If I didn’t have better things to do, I would follow Thee…”  I think that word, more often than not, should be replaced with the word “will.”  It ups the level of commitment considerably from “I would if I could, but I can’t,”  to “Yes! Of course I will!”