Considering the weather lately, we have not been doing our usual thing and lounging around on the pavement outside the local cafe slurping lattes, rather we have been sat inside complaining about how we can't sit outside because of the weather.
A few weeks ago i overheard a young woman say to the cafe owner 'Can i get a coffee and a bagel please' to which the owner answered, 'no, you stay that side of the counter and i'll get it for you' much to the woman's confusion.
It made me smile because 'Can i get' just sounded so wrong to my English ears but since that occasion i have heard it more and more and maybe it's my age but it is really starting to grate with me.
Very rarely do i use 'May i have' which is probably the correct way to ask or things in a cafe or shop, usually plumping for the 'Can i have' or even 'Could i have'
but i would only ever say 'Can i get' if i was asking for permission to step around the counter and pour my own coffee or get my own Bacardi Breezer from the fridge behind the barman.
If someone said to me 'Can i get a glass of water' i would point themselves towards the kitchen tap and tell them what cupboard the glasses were kept in because to me, 'Can i get' means 'can i help myself to' which seems odd to use in a cafe or shop when you actually mean 'May i have' unless you plan to go behind the counter and help yourself.
When i asked the cafe owner about it he said that it only seems to be the younger generation that ask can they get something when they actually mean can they have something and it used to grate with him also but he just accepts it now. The thing he found surprising was that when he makes his little joke about them staying that side of the counter, they don't understand, as if saying 'can i get' is the correct way to ask for something.
It isn't so stop it.
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