XPost: rec.arts.books.tolkien   
   From: jcb@inf.ed.ac.uk   
      
   On 2019-11-16, Bill O'Meally  wrote:   
   > In a letter to Sir Stanley Unwin (_Letters_ #124), Tolkien states,   
   > "Ridiculous and tiresome as you may think me, I want to publish them   
   > both -- _The Silmarillion_ and _The Lord of the Rings_ -- in   
   > conjunction or connexion. 'I want to' -- it would be wiser to say 'I   
   > should like to'....   
   >   
   > In way of background, Tolkien had recently conversed with another   
   > publisher, Milton Waldman, who offered to publish Silm along with LotR,   
   > which Allen and Unwin were reluctant to do.   
   >   
   > Americans will use "I want to" and "I would like to" pretty much   
   > interchangeably, but you seldom if ever hear an American say "I should   
   > like to".   
   >   
   > What subtle difference was Tolkien getting at in his letter?   
      
   The difference between "I want to" and "I should like to" is one of   
   conditionality, diffidence, etc.   
      
   "I want to" is a straightforward expression of wish.   
   "I should like to" carries an implied condition..usually this is   
   simply politeness, and the implied condition is "if you are in   
   agreement with me". In this case, the implied condition may be more   
   substantive, such as "if the publisher meets my demands".   
      
   The use of "should" vs "would" is merely the conjugation:   
   I/we shall/should, you/he/she/it/they will/would   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)