English usage (again)

Mat said:
Q. "Can I get a ticket please?"
A. "Yes you can..."

Q. "May I have a ticket please?"
A. "Yes, here you are."

The difference is one will get you a ticket, the other will only tell you whether it is possible. It's quite simple really, if not a a lot pedantic.
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;)
 
Lets say you were working a Bar, and someone comes in, And asks "Can I get a vodka and coke please"

You'd comment on his spoken lanuage ?

:(
makes me sad.
 
I don't really see a problem with it in informal usage. There are far worse linguistic crimes to get annoyed about.
 
Gustov said:
Please tell me you meant to spell 'a lot' like that :o:D

'I didn't do nothing'

Now THAT drives me mad. Unless they are implying that they did everything which they very rarely are.
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Yes, Yes I did... and was waiting for someone to pick up on it ;)

I don't correct people on what they say normally, I'm not a **** :)

This is the internets however, and you have to be right, even about spoken language.

Love it :cool:
 
Nobody is perfect and I don't expect things will change but the phrase is wrong and I can't understand why we have moved from "please may I have" or even though still wrong, "please can I have", to some americanised version ....I mean, you'll all be talking about 'proms' and 'tuxedos' next! ........ dear God! ........ kids today ...... mumble, mumble ........... "mounds out of molehills" ffs! ........... and this all used to be fields when I was young.
 
singist said:
Nobody is perfect and I don't expect things will change but the phrase is wrong and I can't understand why we have moved from "please may I have" or even though still wrong, "please can I have", to some americanised version ....I mean, you'll all be talking about 'proms' and 'tuxedos' next! ........ dear God! ........ kids today ...... mumble, mumble ........... "mounds out of molehills" ffs! ........... and this all used to be fields when I was young.
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:confused:
what ?

Nobody is perfect, as a result the way they do things won't be perfect.
Stop getting annoyed over little pathetic things.

Have an internet cookie and "chillax"

* it's what the young'uns say these days ! :D
 
[pedantic mode]
It's correct because you might not be able to get what you asked for. Out of stock or whatever.
[/pedantic mode]

and if they are anal enough to say something, you can then say I'll have one.
 
singist said:
Nobody is perfect and I don't expect things will change but the phrase is wrong and I can't understand why we have moved from "please may I have" or even though still wrong, "please can I have", to some americanised version ....I mean, you'll all be talking about 'proms' and 'tuxedos' next! ........ dear God! ........ kids today ...... mumble, mumble ........... "mounds out of molehills" ffs! ........... and this all used to be fields when I was young.
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I hate to be the bearer of bad news and I don't wish you go descend further into apoplexy but proms are quite common now when people are leaving school.
 
My coworker just used the phrase, "Show stopper" in reference to an issue that might prevent the job from continuing on. I looked at him, "show stopper? Did you really just say that?"

"Yeah."

I said, "Give me a real-world example of a 'show stopper'."

He said, "the Wilkes-Booth / Lincoln assassination?"

I said, "Now THAT'S a show stopper. Don't ever use that phrase again."
 
Mat said:
Q. "Can I get a ticket please?"
A. "Yes you can..."

Q. "May I have a ticket please?"
A. "Yes, here you are."
.
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I'd argue they're the same. One will tell you whether you can get a ticket, one will tell you whether you may have a ticket. The only way to actually get a ticket in Pedantic World would be to say "Please could you give me a ticket"
 
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