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Forgive me if this is a bit anecdotal, but I often hear a sentence pattern in
speech which basically is of the form "[statement]...is what I would/want to
say, but..." I usually hear this when the speaker is trying to lead the
listener on as a joke or to be sarcastic. It sort of sounds like 「...て何と...」,
but I can't be sure. There's a definite pause between the first expression and
the て何-whatever I hear afterwards.

**EDIT** : An example might be helpful. "You're really funny...is what I'd
like to say." Possibly followed with an explanation: "You're really funny...is
what I'd like to say, but I just can't lie."
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-04-19T21:30:03.240
5241
2012-04-22T23:39:24.760
2012-04-20T00:04:41.207
question
colloquial-language expressions
What is that expression used to generally mean "...is what I would say, but..."?
`‥‥‥と言いたいところですが、` seems very close to the literal English you've provided, and
the pause is present and correct, but I'm not sure it can be used
sarcastically, and it doesn't sound at all like it begins `て何と`. I thought I'd
post it anyway since this question isn't getting any answers.

Example sentence from ひぐらしのなく頃に:

> 「圭一くん、今日はお疲れなのかな？ かな？」  
>  「俺は元気だぞ～。‥‥‥といいたいところだが、すまん。かなり眠い‥‥‥」
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2012-04-22T15:30:14.733
5253
2012-04-22T15:30:14.733
315
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answer
Is it perhaps
"[nanchatte](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%81%AA%E3%82%93%E3%81%A1%E3%82%83%E3%81%A3%E3%81%A6)"?
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-04-22T23:39:24.760
5254
2012-04-22T23:39:24.760
531
5241
answer