Chris Saul's Blog

Saturday September 29, 2007

Get it yourself!

I presume that the reason Americans tend to say 'can I get' when ordering something, instead of 'may I have' has something to do with German and other north European speakers' influence on the way English is spoken in the States. 'Ich bekomme' and its variations are perfectly polite in Germany, but 'can I get' or 'I'll get' just sounds odd to me.

I can forgive our trans-atlantic cousins' mangling of English, but lots of Brits seem to use the phrase nowadays - presumably another example of 'Friends Speak' permeating our brains. It just sounds rude when used by Britons.

Customer: 'Can I get a Coke?'

Waiter: 'You're welcome to walk into the store room and get one yourself, but why not let me get it for you - you're the customer, I'm the waiter.'

In Dubai, most of the staff in restaurants and cafes tend to have learnt 'standard' British English and tend to look confused when confronted with someone 'can I getting' when making their order.

Oh dear - I really do need to start a 'grumpy old man' section...