Can I get...?

[Quizmonster]

I stand at a bar and a young person appears, saying to the barmaid, "Can I get a pint of Stella, please?" I think, "You're obviously over 18, you're in a British pub, there's a Stella tap right in front of you...of COURSE you can get a pint of Stella!"
Given that, "A pint of Stella, please," would work perfectly well, why the completely superfluous "Can I get?"
(Note, I'm not complaining about it, just Amused and BEmused!)

[joggerjayne]

Perhaps he was asking if he would be permitted to pull it himself !

(otherwise he would have said "Would YOU get me a pint of Stella, please")

[dizmouk2009]

Could I have a pint of stella please.

[joggerjayne]

Morning, Diz x

[dizmouk2009]

I was actually asking for one as opposed to answering your question :)
I think people think they are being more polite if they ask for it as opposed to saying 'Pint of stella please'. I suppose saying "Can I get a pint" is slightly more polite that saying "A pint of stella please", well I see it that way anyway.

[dizmouk2009]

Morning JJ, did you have a nice sleep? x

[joggerjayne]

It was more like a coma, Diz !! ... LOL

How about you?

Thanks for the chat last night, and for helping me stay awake. I'd have been in a bad way if I'd laid down. Sorry if I was talking b0II0cks.

[dizmouk2009]

I'm glad you were online! you cheered me up last night so we both got something out of it lol. You were fine, no talk of bo!!ock5 at all :)

I've opened 'A Nice Cup Of Tea" thread if you want to take a conversation there - don't want to upset anyone thinking we have a debate going about alcohol.

[Quizmonster]

"A pint of Stella, please" is a perfectly polite way of asking for that product. Similarly, "A day return to Southampton, please" or "Two granary rolls and a pasty, please" or endless millions of other such requests.
My point is that this, "Can I get..." approach is relatively recent and seems to be used only by people under 30.

Accordingly, I imagined someone might point out that it is how some popular soap characters make such questions. For example, the questioning tone used by the same British age-group at the end of sentences when the words are a statement, not a question, was often blamed on the impact of Australian speech-patterns in 'Neighbours' and 'Home and Away'.

So, does anyone actually have an answer for me?

[Jumbuck]

it's the common use of "can I.." or "could I..." instead of "may I..."

[joggerjayne]

"Can I get ... " is an Americanism.

Can I get a latte?

Can I get fries with that?

And so is "I'm good" ... as in ...

Hello. How are you?

I'm good.

[Quizmonster]

Ah, NOW you're talking, Jayne! America. Thank you. Can you tie it down to something/someone more specific as a source? Some comedy show, perhaps? It doesn't matter if you can't...I'm only asking.

[jno]

JJ's right, it's American. I think it's standard American, much as 'May I have...' is standard British. (And the answer to 'May I have' might equally be 'Of course you may, help yourself.') Exactly how it made its way across the Atlantic I don't know; it could have stowed away in any one of thousands of films and TV series.

[suzie1]

'may i have a pint of stella' please thats how i ask for it

[heathfield]

Agree with Jno and Suzie. Recall, QM that, long, long ago, school English teachers universally disapproved of any use of the verb 'to get', arguing that the English language contained innumerable more suitable and less unpleasant alternatives!

[Quizmonster]

Thanks to all for your answers. I did suspect it was an Americanism, but hoped that someone would appear and write, for example, "That's what everyone used to say in the coffee-shop in 'Friends'" or some such specific source that became a favourite over here, too.

Let me repeat that I wasn't saying there was anything actually 'wrong' with it. Actually, I believe that British English would be much drabber without its trans-Pond imports. Also, I've never heard anyone under about 30 use it, as I wrote earlier, despite the fact that I spend a lot of my time "standing at bars", as suggested in my question!

Anyway, cheers for your offerings.

[albalass]

As a barmaid one of the most annoying ways people order at the bar is "have you got a bottle miller?" yes, i have boxes of the stuff, would you like one?? i don't know if this is just a glasgow way of talking but it's very irritating.

[Quizmonster]

Yes, Alba, "Have you got..?" sounds as if it may be out of the same stable as "Can I get..?" Of course, bottles in bars are generally pretty much out of sight in cold cupboards, so it's not totally unreasonable to ask a barmaid if she has "got" a specific beer there. On the other hand, "Can I get a latte?" seems an absurd thing to say in a coffee-shop!

[boxtops]

I've read this chain with great pleasure! ... this is in the same vein as my making an enquiry to someone, and the person responding "what was your name, please?" - I so much have to bite my lip and say "my name IS" - rather than "when do you mean - my name hasn't changed..." Language changes, but it doesn't mean we have to like it!!