Timeline for "Can I" vs "May I" in restaurant setting when ordering
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
5 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 4, 2018 at 8:37 | comment | added | Alfe | @lly I think your comment just extends my answer, it doesn't contradict it. (Hence my upvote, btw). Of course, if an option (denial due to permission reasons) was implied despite it being obviously non-existent, an additional message might be conveyed (e. g. sarcasm, submission, naivety, being a nice old English lady, etc., what exactly depends on the context). | |
| Jun 3, 2018 at 7:28 | comment | added | lly | @T.J.Crowder Read the lead answer to this question. Understood carefully instead of carelessly it absolutely does, and I'm not the only one who thinks so. Not the biggest deal, since people usually don't look into it, but exacting usage is precisely the opposite of what Alfe was saying. | |
| Jun 2, 2018 at 16:46 | comment | added | T.J. Crowder | @lly - Wow, talk about going to the extreme without any need. "May" implies none of that. It's just a polite way of ordering your food. Nothing more. | |
| Jun 1, 2018 at 18:23 | comment | added | lly | Since you acknowledge it's a transparently sham courtesy to imagine the server of a fast food chain would be able to deny an item ordered from the menu for any reason besides unavailability, to the extent the server parses the order at all, it's far less polite to ask "may". Done without thought, it's an innocent mistake. Done with great consideration, its sarcasm borders on classist smugness. | |
| Jun 1, 2018 at 8:59 | history | answered | Alfe | CC BY-SA 4.0 |