do + noun, whatebaa, shokupan

[Douglas G. Wilson]

>My partner reported today a customer who said something like "I'll just do a
>coffee". His employee said that's a very popular construction right now.

I asked a couple of (Pittsburgh) students of my acquaintance. One of them
has been using this "do" for "have" etc. routinely (e.g., "I think I'll do
a burrito") for a couple of years to my certain knowledge: he says it's his
impression that this usage has been current although not very prevalent for
as long as he can remember. [I have the same impression: it seems to me
that "do" as in "Let's do a pizza" was natural enough 40 years ago,
although not as routine as in "Let's do some dope" etc.] These few students
do not perceive this usage as currently particularly in vogue; the one
student who uses this "do" routinely is regarded as exceptional in this
respect (once I bring up the subject).

>My partner also reported to me that "whatever" as in "I'm not interested in
>your opinion" is pronounced "whatebaa".

On the Web there are numerous instances of "whateva" (cf. "gangsta" etc.
etc.). Neither I nor my student acquaintances have encountered the version
with "b". [To my naive eye this has the look of a Japanese version ... is
there some manga/anime character who says this maybe?]

-- Doug Wilson