What does "if you will" means?
What does "if you will" means in the sentence below?

When most farms were owned by families, the government felt it was important to protect these families to make sure that they didn’t, if you will, “go out of business.”

Question

What does "if you will" means?
What does "if you will" means in the sentence below?

When most farms were owned by families, the government felt it was important to protect these families to make sure that they didn’t, if you will, “go out of business.”

Answer

"if you will" = "that's one way of describing it, but you may not think it is the most appropriate way"

Answer

Here, will is not an auxiliary verb, but a full verb. Nothing is omitted in the sentence. Will, here, is used in the meaning "want" or "wish", which is considered archaic in most other contexts, outside of set phrases. It is related to the German wollen, Dutch willen, etc., all with the same meaning "to want, desire".

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