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Is "Please pass the gravy" followed by a full stop or a question mark?

59 replies

JohnnyBee · 04/02/2019 21:22

KS2 English punctuation question and my 10 year old daughter thinks it's a full stop while I (who has a degree!) thinks it's a question mark.
Let's show her who's right!

OP posts:
WaxOnFeckOff · 04/02/2019 22:28

Am I smarter than a 10 year old?

That'll be a "Nope" :o

KurriKurri · 04/02/2019 22:29

What made you think it was a question ?

Maelstrop · 04/02/2019 22:32

Full stop. It’s the imperative, not a question.

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DappledThings · 04/02/2019 22:37

I get a lot of emails that start "I hope you are well?".

Pisses me right off.

cheesemongery · 04/02/2019 22:39

Couldn't.

If you could care less, then it means you attach some importance to the thing you are talking about. Which is the complete opposite of the intended meaning of the phrase. Another example of nonsensical phrases gaining traction, mostly due to American TV shows and movies.

@Sethis

Thank you. I've always said couldn't care less - I do read a lot of American fiction though hence my confusion.

It just doesn't make sense why anybody would say I could care less, but reading it in black and white has me questioning myself and my way of speaking. On the other hand, if you could not care less, does that mean you could only care more?

Oh... I'm going to bed Grin

starzig · 04/02/2019 22:43

Please pass the gravy.
Could you pass the gravy?

Question marks are for questions not requests.

Sethis · 04/02/2019 22:44

If you couldn't care less, it means your concern is 0%.

If you could care less, it means your concern must be greater than 0%, because it is possible for you to reduce your concern from its current level to 0.

Ergo "could care less" makes no sense in the context in which it is normally used. It's one of the few phrases that really pisses me off.

Drogosnextwife · 05/02/2019 09:42

Perhaps people have started using random question marks because that's the way everyone seems to talk now, with an inflection at the end of every bloody sentence. It drives me mad!

MumUnderTheMoon · 06/02/2019 23:33

Full stop. If you remove the please it is "pass the gravy" which is a command adding the please just makes it polite.

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