Here is another odd Americanism:

Q: Have you got a pencil sharpener?

A: No, I don't.

Why? Why change the verb?

"Offramp" wrote in message
...
One that REALLY annoys me is customers in shops saying, "Can I
get...[etc]?"

I really REALLY REALLY hate people saying "enjoy" as they put a plate of
food in front of me

tim

On Sun, 24 Jan 2016 08:06:28 -0800 (PST), Offramp
wrote:

One that REALLY annoys me is customers in shops saying, "Can I get...[etc]?"

Can you explain that to a foreigner?

I've been using "Can i get..." when ordering beer. Should I say
something else?

--
jhk

On Sunday, 24 January 2016 17:47:08 UTC, tim..... wrote:

I really REALLY REALLY hate people saying "enjoy" as they put a plate of
food in front of me

That gets on my thingies as well! I was brought up to know that the sortest sentence in the Bible was "Jesus wept". Not, "Take this all of you. ENJOY!"

Paul Corfield wrote:
On Sun, 24 Jan 2016 19:08:17 +0100, Jarle Hammen Knudsen
wrote:

On Sun, 24 Jan 2016 08:06:28 -0800 (PST), Offramp
wrote:

One that REALLY annoys me is customers in shops saying, "Can I get...[etc]?"

Can you explain that to a foreigner?

I've been using "Can i get..." when ordering beer. Should I say
something else?

"Can I have a pint of ...... please?" or "A pint of .... please?" or
"I'd like a pint of ...... please?

Don't you just love the English language?

Someone will be along shortly to tell you all of my suggestions are
wrong!

That's why I didn't dare reply!

@Jarle: The reason is that grammar nazis will reply to "can I get..." with,
"Yes, I think you can. Not necessarily here of course. Did you want
anything from me?"

It is of course the kind of thing that makes you think that the answer to
the question "can they get laid" is a definitive no, which explains their
frustration.

On 2016-01-24 19:39:40 +0000, Paul Corfield said:

On Sun, 24 Jan 2016 19:08:17 +0100, Jarle Hammen Knudsen
wrote:

On Sun, 24 Jan 2016 08:06:28 -0800 (PST), Offramp
wrote:

One that REALLY annoys me is customers in shops saying, "Can I get...[etc]?"

Can you explain that to a foreigner?

I've been using "Can i get..." when ordering beer. Should I say
something else?

"Can I have a pint of ...... please?" or "A pint of .... please?" or
"I'd like a pint of ...... please?

Don't you just love the English language?

Someone will be along shortly to tell you all of my suggestions are
wrong!

"Can I have a pint of bitter please?"

To which the answer is yes, you can.

E.

eastender wrote on 24 Jan 2016 at 13:36 ...
On 2016-01-24 13:09:49 +0000, said:

On Sun, 24 Jan 2016 12:33:55 +0000, eastender
wrote:



but only because I couldn't see anything else wrong and I thought it a
bit picky

The debasement of our language by Americans a 'bit picky'?



Do you get concerned that the passenger vehicles on the Underground
are called Cars rather than Carriages?

We've had railway cars since the 19th century (dining cars, Pullman etc.)

The use of alternate instead of alternative on a public sign is not
current British English and hopefully won't be.

My Collins dictionary includes the use of 'alternate' to mean
'alternative' as one of the ten meanings of 'alternate', and it doesn't
mark it as only applying to American English. It was published in 1984.
I think you've missed the boat on this one.

--
Richard J.
(to email me, swap 'uk' and 'yon' in address)

In article 201601241958155246-email@domaincom,
(eastender) wrote:

"Can I have a pint of bitter please?"

To which the answer is yes, you can.

So you should ask "May I have a pint of bitter please?"

--
Colin Rosenstiel

On 22/01/2016 17:16, Basil Jet wrote:

On 2016\01\22 17:01, Mizter T wrote:

On 21/01/2016 20:59, Basil Jet wrote:

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/transport/can-you-spot-the-spelling-blunder-on-this-northern-line-tube-sign-a3162136.html

Is this a new sign? I know there's been work going on there, but why did
it need a new sign?

Guessing... because the old one was poxy and covered with patches?

A few years before Crossrail opens is not the time to change them.
Unless it's got Crossrail on it... has it?

Well, you could always FOI them and ask why it was replaced, and in so
doing use up some more resources in the process...

On 2016\01\24 18:08, Jarle Hammen Knudsen wrote:
On Sun, 24 Jan 2016 08:06:28 -0800 (PST), Offramp
wrote:

One that REALLY annoys me is customers in shops saying, "Can I get...[etc]?"

Can you explain that to a foreigner?

I've been using "Can i get..." when ordering beer. Should I say
something else?

Historically "Can I get a beer" meant "Can I come to your side of the
counter and get the beer myself?" whereas "Can I have a beer" meant "Can
YOU get me a beer?"

But the usage has changed and "Can I get a beer" is now used commonly by
young English people, so you shouldn't worry about using it. It doesn't
make you sound foreign, it just makes you sound young.