One does not have to be a “language purist” to know the difference between “can I” and “may I.” Too literal? A matter of semantics? Perhaps, but it also demonstrates a mastery of the English language and the use of proper manners when one seeking permission uses the word “may.” Have you never been the victim of this exchange?:
“Can I have a cookie?”
“Yes, you can have a cookie, but no, you may not.”
Children in my vicinity quickly learn which word to use, as I did when I was young. Oh - a “please” helps mightily, as well. I am of the humble opinion that the words and grammatical contructs we use in everyday life are one of the most important impressions we can make on those we communicate with. This case is similar to someone habitually using double negatives, in my book.
“Good manners don’t cost nothing.” And good grammar don’t cost nothing, niether.
Well, Nick, you win too.
You see, English is not my natural language. I have learned it painfully over the years, and I agree with you, communication is VERY important!
But we cannot be TOO strict either. If we were, there would be no communication at all. If someone says “Can I ask you a question?”, chances are that person is making a grammatical mistake, not a stupidity.
Are we going to call a stupidity ALL grammatical errors?
their denotes plurality, A person is singular, isn’t it?
And BTW, isn’t the word ‘neither’ spelled like I just did?
Wouldn’t the right phrase be “…good grammar doesn’t cost nothing, either.”?
You see, I do not think that I master the English language, but for one that criticizes as much as you do, shouldn’t YOU master it?
Men will cease to commit atrocities only when they cease to believe absurdities.
-Voltaire
I can’t figure out what the answer to the ant-farm question was. (I know that the ants weren’t in the box…) My younger brother had one of those and it came with a coupon that you sent off to get some ants. The ants were huge black things that were much larger than our indigenous ants, and a lot easier to observe. So I’d say that if the customer’s question was “Do I have to provide the ants on my own for this thing?”, which is probably what he really wondered, then it’s not so stupid. I don’t know enough about ants to know how to build a self-sustaining colony in a glass box…
ES: Wow… for someone who does not have English as their (note singular) first language, you sure do like to quibble with those who do.
My “Can I ask you a question” was meant as a humorous example of a stupid question one can have fun with. My typical reply is “You just did.” (much laughter) Get it? Instead it turned into a pissing contest because you saw fit to take me to task as being “a language purist” over something that was incidental to the (admittedly lame) joke.
If all you want to do is assert your superior knowledge of grammar and syntax and what is and what is not “colloquially acceptable,” please make sure the fly shit you’re picking out of black pepper is indeed fly shit. You also might want to look into a little device known as “tongue in cheek.”
No. The correct phrase is “Good grammar costs nothing.” You simply eliminated my intentional triple negative and rephrased it as a double.
I can’t believe I am going to drag Mickey Mouse in to this but what the heck! I attended a seminar that was put on by the Disney University. They were talking about customer service. They gave an example of one of the most often asked question at Disney Land. Picture this Cast Member (Disney Employee) and this poor sap coming up to him and posing the following question:
“What time is the 3 o’clock parade?”
Stupid question right? What they found out is that most of the people who come to the Theme Parks work from an agenda. At 0900 we’ll be at Space Mountain, 10:30 we’ll be at the Pirates of the Carribian and so on. So the question begs a question. They don’t want to know when the 3 o’clock parade is. (That’s because it’s at 3 o’clock ya dummy!) What they really want to know is what time the 3 o’clock parade is going to pass by where they are going to be. So you ask them “where are you going to be at 3 o’clock?” and go from there. So I would argue that there is no such thing as a stupid question just a mis-phrased question. Remember every business has a “3 o’clock parade” question. Where you will distiguish yourself from you competitors is how you handle it.
My favorite stupid question happened at a KFC twenty years ago.
Me: “Three piece chicken dinner, please.”
Counter person (while filling order): “How many pieces of chicken are in a three piece dinner?”
Me (shocked and amazed): “Uh, three.”
I was kicking myself moments later for not saying “ten”.
Along similar lines, try asking “How many sixteenths (or eighths, or thirty-seconds) are there in an inch?” You’ll be surprised how many adults (and most children) will not be able to answer correctly.
Seems to me that the only stupid questions are those that you already know the answer to. If you don’t know the answer and you ask, it ain’t a stupid question. By the way, things like requests (Can you lend me five bucks?) or permission (Can I go to the toilet?) aren’t questions, they’re speech acts. Yeah, grammatically, I know they’re expressed in the question structure, but semantically, they’re not, since they do not seek information.
Nick, you’re way out of line on that “can” and “may” stuff. In modern American English both “can” and “may” serve to express permission.
You guys better watch out or I’m going to give you the whole English-teacher lesson on modal verbs.
I agree with you, and I appreciate the English lesson. As I stated before, English is not my natural language, and every piece of help is always welcome!
“Seems to me that the only stupid questions are those that you already know the answer to. If you don’t know the answer and you ask, it ain’t a stupid question.”
Speaking as a member of the Straight Dope Science Advisory Board, I’d have to say that it’s a stupid question if the answer can be looked up in any dictionary or encyclopedia. And you’d be surprised to know how many people DO ask such questions, and then get offended when you tell them to look it up for themselves.
Seemingly stupid question that actually has an interesting answer:
The answer? The feathers, of course. Featers are weighed in pounds “avoirdupois” (that’s French for “the normal pounds your bathroom scale is calibrated in”). Gold, on the other hand, is weighed in “pounds troy”, which are slightly lighter than pounds avoirdupois.
Now, if you asked whether an OUNCE of feathers weighed more than and ounce of gold, the andswer would be, “No, the gold would weigh more.” … Because despite the troy-pound being smaller than the avoirdupois-pound, there are only 12 ounces troy in a pound troy (as opposed to the usual 16 ounces avoirdupois in a pound avoirdupois), and thus an ounce troy weighs more.
Gold, silver, platinum, palladium, and now rhodium, all have their going prices listed in the commodities markets in terms of dollars per Ounce Troy.
In response to the contention that, “can I ask you a question?” is indeed a stupid question, I would like to point out that this question, or more accurately commonly used phrase, only takes three seconds to ask and I often use it as a precursor to a more complex question if I suspect the questioned is short on time.
[[Speaking as a member of the Straight Dope Science Advisory Board, I’d have to say that it’s a stupid question if the answer can be looked up in any dictionary or encyclopedia. And you’d be surprised to know how many people DO ask such questions, and then get offended when you tell them to look it up for themselves.]] Lynn Bodoni
Yeah, I can see that. But - also speaking as a member of the SDSAB - this doesn’t stop me (with mailbag questions)from giving the stock dictionary answer, then expanding on it with all the related interesting, esoteric, anecdotal and trivial stuff that I find out with further research. There may be stupid questions, but there are no simple questions.
Jill
