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We weren't sure, but we figured if we had ours, a search on "druthers" would provide the answer. We thought we'd try out our favorite new Yahoo! Search Shortcut, so we typed "define druthers" into the box, and presto -- our answer appeared right in our results. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, druthers (the word seems to always be used in the plural sense) are "a choice or preference." Turns out the expression about "having one's druthers" comes from the phrase "I'd rather" or "would rather." Over time,
the words were run together and shortened, resulting in the word "druthers." The Phrase Finder, that handy reference guide to all our favorite sayings, defines the whole expression as meaning, "If I were free to choose." The phrase made its way into the world of popular music in several songs. John Denver capitalized on the saying in his tune titled "Druthers," and the 1956 musical "Li'l Abner" featured a number by the great songwriting duo Johnny Mercer and Gene de Paul called "If I Had My Druthers" that crooned:
If I had my druthers
I'd druther have my druthers
than anything else I know
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