236 Two Politeness Parentheticals
8.2.2.2 Comparison to Insubordinated Clauses. Because it does
not depend on an overt apodosis (only an implied one), if I may/ might say so
has some affi nity with what have been called “isolated if- clauses” (Stirling
1999 ), “free conditionals” (Lombardi Vallauri 2004 ), “independent conditional
clauses,” “monoclauses” (Dancygier and Sweetser 2005 ; Verstraete et al. 2012 ),
or “insubordinated” clauses (Evans 2007 ) (see Section 4.4.1 ). Insubordinated
clauses are clauses which on formal grounds appear to be subordinate (e.g.,
they are preceded by a subordinating conjunction) but are “pragmatically,
semantically and intonationally complete and self- suffi cient” (Lombardi
Vallauri 2004 : 204).Though if I may/ might say so is typically parenthetical
(i.e., attached to a host clause), it may occasionally stand independently:
(9) “Lovely cloth, sir. If I may say so .” (2008 Snowy night with a stranger [COCA])
In discussing as if and if only monoclauses ( As if I cared! , If only he would
stop drinking! ), Dancygier and Sweetser ( 2005 : 229, 217– 219) note that these
clauses have lost their conditional meaning and acquired a ‘wish’ sense (a wish
that the speaker knows to be impossible, yet desirable). Moreover, the wish
sense can be interpreted as the “sole conventional meaning” (218) of the con-
struction, which functions as a performative. We can say that if I may/ might
say so has likewise lost its conditional meaning and functions much like a per-
formative request with the meaning ‘Allow me to say this.’
8.2.3 Diachronic Origin of If I May/ Might Say So
If I may say so occurs as a parenthetical already by the mid sixteenth century,
as evidenced in EEBO and the OED quotations database:
(10) a. And it is verye wel done forsorth, for where shul+de god els fynde a
dwellyng pla+ce? or whether coulde he els fl ee for succour, yf the deuyll
dyd cha+se hym ( yf I may say so) (1536 Luther, The images of a verye
Chrysten bysshop [EEBO])
b. Of late I admonished that this worde, bodie, is not to be taken for the
fl esh, skinne, and bones, but ( if I may say so ) for the whole masse of man.
(1583 Calvin, trans. Rosdell, A commentarie vpon the Epistle of Saint Paul
[EEBO])
c. neyther onely with theyr functions, but also ( if I may say so ) with their
words and exhortations. (1598 de Granada, The sinners guyde [EEBO])
d. good and godlie men haue neither cared for meate, drinke, sleepe, friends,
life, death, nor the hazard of their owne* solues, if I may say so, And why
may I not, when Paule wished himselfe to bee separated from CHRIST, for
his brethrens sake? (1612 Leigh, Queene Elizabeth [EEBO])
e. Wherefore the ceremonies which at weddings are to be performed in the
Temple, to blesse, or ( if I may say so ) to consecrate the husband and wife,
(1642 Hobbes, Philosophical rudiments [UofV])