idiomsmodality
I know that we say
I would rather read a book than go out now.
How about in a case in which you went out last night but you feel regret about it? Is using "would rather " grammatically correct or common in these situations?
"I would rather hadn't gone to party. It was terrible."
or can we can only use the word "wish" for these situations?
"I wish I hadn't gone to the party. It was terrible."
In poker, at the end of each hand, the winner "lays their cards out on the table" to show they've won. Since part of the game of poker is to try to disguise your hand from the other players, when the winning hand is laid on the table, this reveals facts that previously have been hidden or even deliberately lied about (through bluffing) by the players.
This leads to a common idiom, "lay your cards on the table" to mean showing your actual capabilities. In a negotiation, this idiom can mean revealing your actual wants and what you're willing to give in return.
The idiom is also used in a more general form, "lay [something] on the table" and with a broader meaning, to reveal things that are hidden or simply to speak plainly.
In your examples, there are people who might not normally reveal their true beliefs, and the writers are using the idiom of putting them "out on the table" to mean expressing those beliefs openly.
"On the Table" also means for something to be subject to discussion or consideration by a group. In the written example you provided, the characters views about premarital sex were "on the table". I would infer this is not a subject matter they speak often about.
I shall be a great deal too far off to trouble myself about you.
Translation, chunk by chunk:
[ I shall be ] [ a great deal ] [ too far off ] [ to trouble myself about you. ]
= [ I will be ] [ very ] [ too far away from you ] [ to do anything about you. ]
~ "I will be too very far away from you to do anything about you, my feet."
A great deal is a set phrase, meaning: "a large amount or quantity of something".
Why did Alice say so?
Because she was stretched out, like a telescope (see the image below), by the power of the cake after eating a cake in the previous chapter. (The sentence in question is from the first paragraph of chapter II of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.)
Best Answer
As Jim points out, the ordinary way of saying this employs not+infinitive, just as your first example would if it were negated:
When you employ a finite verb in the second clause you have to supply a subject for it, even if it is the same subject as that of the main clause:
But versions with repeated subjects may sound odd to some people, particularly in conversation.
In any case, the rather constructions really express preference rather than regret. I suggest you avoid rather, and stick with wish in these situations.