Maybe it's cos my parents were sarcastic or summat but whenever I said "Can I have...." as a kid they'd just say "Of course you can" and then leave it at that, the implication being that they thought I was asking if it was okay for me to possess the thing rather than me actually requesting it.
So, for me, saying "Can I get..." seems like a better way of actually requesting a thing rather than just confirming whether it's allowed for me to possess it.
But to me, if someone says 'can I get', they're asking if they can physically go and get it, whereas 'may I have' is far more polite as they're asking the shopkeeper (or whoever) to provide whatever it is they're asking for.
My mum was always correcting the English spoken by me and my siblings and this would no doubt have been one example.
Another example was how we used to pronounce the likes of 'water' and 'butter' as 'wawha' and 'buhha' - she'd say 'how do you spell that, then?'
I should add that we were brought up in south London but my mum was Irish and her diction and pronunciation was far better than ours and it must have grated on her that her own children were so sloppy with their pronunciation!
Precisely the things that annoy me. Where did "train station" suddenly appear from ?
I'm a Countdown addict and when (usually) a youngster says "can I get a vowel" I usually hope they lose
Another one that annoys me on Countdown is when doing the numbers game someone says "take 10" instead of "deduct 10" or "take away ten".
What's wrong with train station? It's a place where trains are stationed.
What's wrong with train station? It's a place where trains are stationed.
haven't we always referred to tube stations or underground stations, with tube stops being the number of stations between the start and end of the journey?
Dude, you are wrong...it's pronounded 'Marl-a-bone'...not as in Bob 'Marley'
the parish was st. Mary le burn as in Ty burn, a popular tree for hanging catholic "strange fruit". In time it was renamed St Mary le Bone, so I guess that is how it should be pronounced... Mind you what about the haringey vs haringay? Location Vs municipal council.
haven't we always referred to tube stations or underground stations, with tube stops being the number of stations between the start and end of the journey?
???!!! I never said train station had replaced tube station. I am saying that what is wrong with calling a place where you catch a mainline train a train station?
Not strictly the same but I'm Scottish and an English language teacher in Italy andit's awkward to teach my students that the 'r' in Court is silent and that it rhymes with Caught. It's very difficult to approach when throughout every lesson before I've pronounced the R's.
I usually just tell them it's stupid since only about 30 million people pronounce it this way and that at least the Americans, the Irish, the Scottish and most of Northern England do pronounce the R (so around 400 million people). Italians like to pronounce their R's anyway so we don't even try.
I have heard new yorkers in coffee shops insist that they need a coffee.
Perhaps they do indeed....
Yep. That'll be the caffeine craving talking. I also thought this was just about what we say to our parents. I say "can I have..." when asking for something behind a counter.
"Yurs" instead of "years", usually by newsreaders/reporters.
I can think of a couple of songs with mispronounced words:
In 'Leave Right Now', Will Young says "prahaps" rather than "perhaps".
In 'Two In A Million', Jo O'Meara from S Club 7 says "bought us together" rather than "brought us together".
Precisely the things that annoy me. Where did "train station" suddenly appear from ?
I'm a Countdown addict and when (usually) a youngster says "can I get a vowel" I usually hope they lose
Another one that annoys me on Countdown is when doing the numbers game someone says "take 10" instead of "deduct 10" or "take away ten".
???!!! I never said train station had replaced tube station. I am saying that what is wrong with calling a place where you catch a mainline train a train station?
I was suggesting that the use of the word station has been used in the a similar context for quite sometime.
Mind you, I am not even sure if, post BR, whether "mainline" is correct anymore. Many of us Londoners used to call BR services in London, overground but that is now a tubeline...
My pet hate is people saying 'rediculous' and spelling it the same way when it's actually 'ridiculous'. Maybe it's because I knew a sarcastic person who would say it all the time, completely unaware of the irony in some of her remarks.
Comments
Eh? Neither is a noun
Accept is a verb, and Except is usually a conjunction, although can also be used as a verb.
It's mostly commonly accepted now for some reason, but pronouncing it that way makes no sense to me.
Dude, you are wrong...it's pronounded 'Marl-a-bone'...not as in Bob 'Marley'
It's Neen in Peterborough, but Nenn in Northants.
and have their teeth out at the "Dennis"
East Enderisms, "Shtoodent" for student, they always seem to pronounce "st" as "sht".
I am guilty of that one, but should it not be mar-e-lea-bone ?
I spent some time in Wisbech (Cambs) on the river Nene and never heard it called anything but Neen.
But to me, if someone says 'can I get', they're asking if they can physically go and get it, whereas 'may I have' is far more polite as they're asking the shopkeeper (or whoever) to provide whatever it is they're asking for.
My mum was always correcting the English spoken by me and my siblings and this would no doubt have been one example.
Another example was how we used to pronounce the likes of 'water' and 'butter' as 'wawha' and 'buhha' - she'd say 'how do you spell that, then?'
I should add that we were brought up in south London but my mum was Irish and her diction and pronunciation was far better than ours and it must have grated on her that her own children were so sloppy with their pronunciation!
I now pronounce 'water' and 'butter' correctly.
What's wrong with train station? It's a place where trains are stationed.
haven't we always referred to tube stations or underground stations, with tube stops being the number of stations between the start and end of the journey?
the parish was st. Mary le burn as in Ty burn, a popular tree for hanging catholic "strange fruit". In time it was renamed St Mary le Bone, so I guess that is how it should be pronounced... Mind you what about the haringey vs haringay? Location Vs municipal council.
I have heard new yorkers in coffee shops insist that they need a coffee.
Perhaps they do indeed....
???!!! I never said train station had replaced tube station. I am saying that what is wrong with calling a place where you catch a mainline train a train station?
I usually just tell them it's stupid since only about 30 million people pronounce it this way and that at least the Americans, the Irish, the Scottish and most of Northern England do pronounce the R (so around 400 million people). Italians like to pronounce their R's anyway so we don't even try.
Yep. That'll be the caffeine craving talking. I also thought this was just about what we say to our parents. I say "can I have..." when asking for something behind a counter.
People who use uses instead of use! :eek:
"Ecscape"
"Yurs" instead of "years", usually by newsreaders/reporters.
I can think of a couple of songs with mispronounced words:
In 'Leave Right Now', Will Young says "prahaps" rather than "perhaps".
In 'Two In A Million', Jo O'Meara from S Club 7 says "bought us together" rather than "brought us together".
lt appeared from America, I believe.
I was suggesting that the use of the word station has been used in the a similar context for quite sometime.
Mind you, I am not even sure if, post BR, whether "mainline" is correct anymore. Many of us Londoners used to call BR services in London, overground but that is now a tubeline...