"can I get a..."

[Beverly Flanigan]

I interpreted Lynne's comment as meaning the Brits interpret our "Can I
get..." as meaning "Can I myself walk around the counter and get myself
[whatever]?"  A ridiculous interpretation, of course--which is why none of
us caught the drift, I suspect!  And the query has nothing to do with the
presumed can/may distinction, which is as dead as a doornail on both sides
of the pond, isn't it?

At 01:14 AM 6/5/2006, you wrote:
>This is a very common and completely unexceptionable way to order,
>especially in informal settings, such as a diner, fast-food place, or snack
>bar.  A variant is "Can I have a ...".   Sometimes, of course, especially in
>places with no obvious menu, the question is a true interrogative.
>I can't imagine what your derisive compatriots were thinking of, unless they
>were making some sort of bring/take-like distinction.  I should think that
>if being on the customer side of the counter precluded getting anything,
>then business would dry up pretty quick, at least in America.
>
>What would be the properly British expression?
>
>Seán Fitzpatrick
>[H'mm.  Brits disdain Americanisms, but we are rather taken with
>Britishisms.  Perhaps it's time to put UK tags on the embargo list, along
>with French wines and cheeses.  I think I'll start with "at the end of the
>day".]
>http://www.logomachon.blogspot.com/
>
>
>
>I haven't read anything on the subject, but in New York City another
>variation is, "Let me have the five-piece chicken" or "Let me get the
>Double Whopper." It comes out, "lemme," of course.
>
>Grant Barrett
>gbarrett at worldnewyork.org
>http://www.doubletongued.org/
>
>The Official Dictionary of Unofficial English (May 2006, McGraw-Hill)
>http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0071458042/
>
>
>On Jun 4, 2006, at 07:34, Lynne Murphy wrote:
>
> > Can anyone tell me if anything's been written about "can I get a" as a
> > request form, as in "Can I get a double decaf cappuccino?"?
> >
> > It's one of those things that's derided here as Americanism--with two
> > Englishmen I've talked to saying that it sounds like the customer
> > is asking
> > to come to the other side of the counter and make themselves a coffee.
> > It's stereotypically associated with Starbucks culture and revival
> > meetings
> > ("Can I get a witness?" "Can I get an 'amen'?")--both pretty American
> > institutions.
> >
> > I ask because I've just started a blog about US/UK dialectal
> > differences
> > that I run into on a daily basis.  If you're interested, it's at:
> >
> > http://separatedbyacommonlanguage.blogspot.com
> >
> > tata,
> > Lynne
> >
> > Dr M Lynne Murphy
> > Senior Lecturer in Linguistics and English Language
> > Arts B133
> > University of Sussex
> > Brighton BN1 9QN
> >
> > phone: +44-(0)1273-678844
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org