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AIBU?

IABU to hate "Can I get...."?

112 replies

tbtc20 · 17/02/2016 16:23

A colleague (English as first language) likes to adopt Americanisms into his speech.

His latest is to say e.g. "Can I get you to test this program" or "Can I get an account for our new starter".

I think he thinks it makes him sound cool.

Makes me wince.

OP posts:

Report

PolkadotsAndMoonbeams · 18/02/2016 01:16

Actually, the "can I get you to test..." sounds ok (although a bit informal), it's like saying "can I ask you to...".

gooseberryroolz · 18/02/2016 01:17

Haven't RTFT. Has anyone mentioned 'my bad' yet?

SecretWitch · 18/02/2016 01:18

I live in the US, can't say it's something I usually hear. Most people request
"One venti half caffe decaffe please" or " Yes, I would like one small coffee light, no sugar, please". Although, I think I have heard the " can I get" used in NYC..

gooseberryroolz · 18/02/2016 01:18

That's a dead link 80s.

SenecaFalls · 18/02/2016 01:18

I agree with Pitiless Yank. I'm in the US. After one of these threads I actually did a bit of research at my local Starbucks. Nearly everyone said a version of "I would like." I think there was one "can I get" in there.

GapAreUs · 18/02/2016 01:20

Makes me cringe. Surely its ' could I please have'.
Seen it on 'first dates' TV show many a time

gooseberryroolz · 18/02/2016 01:22

So it's just television New Yorkers that say it then Yank & Seneca?

(Usually while adopting a cab-hailing stance/gesture/facial expression.)

PitilessYank · 18/02/2016 01:22

80s -I think this link might work:

www.bbc.com/news/magazine-14201796

The list is fairly ridiculous though, because it is a list of perceived Americanisms compiled from e-mails sent in. I have lived here for. 50 years (my whole life), in several different parts of the country, and many of the terms/phrases listed are very uncommon.

SecretWitch · 18/02/2016 01:23

Snap, Seneca...I'm in Starbucks..everyday at 8am..respectfully requesting my Blonde brew.

PitilessYank · 18/02/2016 01:25

Hah! Gooseberry, are you referring to the show "Friends?"

It always infuriates me how ordinary people in American tv shows set in expensive cities have such large apartments!

gooseberryroolz · 18/02/2016 01:29

I might be, I'm not sure. I'm searching my memory

PitilessYank · 18/02/2016 01:33

No pressure, Goose

FIGURE IT OUT WITHIN 30 MINUTES OR THIS BUNNY GETS IT...

IABU to hate "Can I get...."?

PitilessYank · 18/02/2016 01:34

And by "gets it", I mean gets a lovely carrot. I would never hurt a bunny.

SenecaFalls · 18/02/2016 01:37

That list is more than just a bit xenophobic.

gooseberry I guess I don't watch much TV about New Yorkers so really can't say. I live in the South. It's usually "I'd like, etc." with some "how's your momma?" and "cute haircut, who's doing it now?" thrown in for good measure.

SenecaFalls · 18/02/2016 01:40

Secret Me, too. I also settle in with my laptop for an hour or so and get a bit of work done while also performing a bit of linguistic research for MN.

GreatFuckability · 18/02/2016 01:40

'on accident' grates with me, just because it reminds me of when my children were little and I was forever saying 'BY accident' and 'ON purpose'. It sounds childlike to my British ears. Same as 'on christmas'

SenecaFalls · 18/02/2016 01:42

Americans, and I speak for all 319 million of us, don't say "on accident."

GreatFuckability · 18/02/2016 01:49

The man who narrates cinema sins on youtube does!! And I love him, except for when he says on accident and then I feel the need to kill him. Which makes me sad. Find him and make him stop!

januarybrown1998 · 18/02/2016 01:51

New starter?

That's brilliant, haven't heard that since I was at school a thousand years ago.

Do people honestly say it at work?

LucyBabs · 18/02/2016 01:55

Seneca

Yes it's very common here in Ireland to say "Can i get" Rather than the correct "Can I have"
As a PP said lots of us speak English. Britain don't have a monopoly on the language
Us Irish should actually be speaking as gaeilge, not the Queen's English

GreatFuckability · 18/02/2016 02:03

My Irish friend says 'will I...' For 'shall/should I...' I love it! 'will I have a shower now?' I dunno, lovely, will you?'

I'm welsh. I've no place to talk about butchering the English language...

gooseberryroolz · 18/02/2016 02:04

FIGURE IT OUT WITHIN 30 MINUTES OR THIS BUNNY GETS IT...

Oops was making up the bed and nearly missed tyhe deadline

Yes, on reflection I think Jennifer Aniston is partly culpable.

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SenecaFalls · 18/02/2016 02:09

This thread did make me realize that I don't watch much TV that is set in NY anymore. My current favorites are The Good Wife (Chicago) and Madam Secretary (DC). And then all the British TV I watch, which DH refers to (affectionately, I assure y'all) as "English shit."

gooseberryroolz · 18/02/2016 02:11

Orange-bearded mobile traffic reporters in Pennsylvania say it;

gooseberryroolz · 18/02/2016 02:12

Does English shit mean Downton Abbey?

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