Can I get?

DD2 drives me mad when she says "Can I get" in Costa or Nero. Interestingly, both her children say "Please may I have?"

I'm not Scottish, except by naturalisation, but I'd think it rude to object to the way local people talk, even if I only objected inside my own head.

BTW I hate 'yous' !

You'd hate it in my part of Scotland then, mcem. It's used a lot in the west.

As a child I very often heard "Can I get....?"

Yes, "Can I get you anything?" was heard as a child, and that sort of usage is fine. The person asking the question is prepared to go and get the item.

If you request something of someone you don't suggest you'll get it yourself, as in, "Can I get a coffee?" I always imagine the would-be coffee drinker leaping over the counter to the coffee machine.

Get ere, nayah!

Well, better than Wayne running out into the traffic!

Talking of 'get' (used in a different way) can anything beat the true dreadfulness of a mother yelling "Get here, Wayne!" at her runaway offspring?!!

I remember seeing Ann Widdicombe on Grumpy old women talking about using a computer. It would flash up on the screen 'It looks like you are trying to write a letter. Can I help?' She aid 'Not if that's your idea of good grammar!'

I dont see anything wrong with that mcem!!

The thing that drives me absolutely potty is using 'like' instead of 'as if' - but it is almost ubiquitous now. For example I would say That animal looks like a cat (ie a noun' ) but he looks as if it's going to rain (verb). People now say 'It looks like it's going to rain.' NOO!!!

How do you feel about "What did you get for your birthday?"
Very common in the playground and not worth fussing about when far more serious expressions should be picked up.
BTW I hate 'yous' !

Nothing personal Baggs. I dislike people correcting regional varations and idiom. I think there's a difference between that and incorrect grammar but it's a fine line!

As a child I very often heard "Can I get....?"
Mum discouraged its use but outside the family it was frequently used, so not a recent thing and not an americanism.
I see it as a regional variation and unless it's reasonable to complain about all local expressions I don't see it as a problem.

I loathe 'Can I get..?"

If I were serving I'd want to say, with emphasis, "Can I get YOU something, unless of course you want to go and get it yourself?"

We were sitting down to lunch with friends a while ago. Their lad, recently returned from University looked up the table and said "Can I get the salt and pepper?" His mother replied, "Well thanks for trying to be helpful love, but it's already on the table." His father also told him to ask for things properly, unless he really did have an urge to come and collect the salt and pepper from the far end of the table. It was all good natured and he laughed and the other young people chimed in too.

The world needs pedants!

You dunna have to do that duck

If I were to be serving someone who said 'I wanna get a coffee' I would be tempted to reply 'I wanna get off home but I have to serve you before I can do that' [sigh]

I'll bugger off for the time being and leave yous (sic) in peace though.

I've been told off for that a few times on GN too. Not by present company, I hasten to add.

I'm actually quite pedantic myself where meaning is concerned.

Well this is pedants' corner Baggs
And it is only a very small, quiet corner.
We're not allowed to moan about spelling, grammar etc on other threads so this little space is needed to relieve our angst

You have a point, pp, but I don't think this sort of complaint is pedantry because what the people complained about are saying is not incorrect or wrong in any way. It's just different.

So I will continue to express my irritation at linguistic snobbery.

Relieves!!

Well this is pedants' corner Baggs. If it annoys you, don't look! It relueves our feelings to have a bit of a moan. I would not dream of correcting anyone, even family members or here on GN (not personally I mean), but it's nice to be able to share the irritation here with like minded people.

Variety is the spice of life and variety in language is one of the richest sources of fun. Enjoy it!

Where I live when you've asked for your latte, or whatever, the barista (or whoever) will say, very succinctly "Se''en en?"

For a while I didn't understand this. Then I realised they were saying "Are you sitting in?"

I like the local variation ?