Re: Can I say "Is John here?"
- From: "Alan Jones" <atj@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 31 Aug 2005 11:45:45 GMT
"FRAN" <fran_beta@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1125485223.756177.226210@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[...]
> Jim Lawton wrote:
(30 years) and British (23 years)
>> >Could I speak with John?
>> >
>> "with" sounds U.S. to me ;
> Really? If it is perhaps I've picked it up.
>> I'd say "Can I speak to John?".
> Yes that's also possible, though "with" sounds a touch more polite,
> don't you think? Less like a monologue and more like dialogue.
[...]
"Speak with" is not much used in BrE. Like Jim, I immediately register it as
AmE. "Speak to" doesn't sound even slightly impolite to a British ear. It's
true that "Behave yourself, or I shall have to speak to your parents" sounds
threatening, but that's because of the context. There are other
possibilities: "Is John there? I'd like a word with him if he's free", for
example.
Alan Jones
.
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