Language, Timothy!

[miss_soap]

When did "Can I get...?" [to me, an Americanism] supersede "May I have/Could I have...?" as the preferred phrasing when ordering a coffee/muffin/whatever at Pret et al?

I appear to be the last bastion of the latter in the City.

Comments

[serpentstar]

Eventually we will all be speaking Ameriglish, other than a few Anglophile Americans who drop occasionally into syntax influenced by either Python or Spaced.

[hirez]

1996.

[scatterbeetle]

I always say 'Could I please have...'.

[myriadofsins]

I was always taught can was the ability to do something and may was asking permission. So I for example can run naked through a florist shop as it is well within my current skill set but being able to get anyone's blessing to do so is another matter entirely.

[panzermensch101]

I hear a lot of "Get me a....", which is just down right rude!