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nawee
Joined: 29 Apr 2006
Posts: 400
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 Posted: Mon Sep 04, 2006 6:46 pm Post subject: "What can I do for you?" and "What can I do y |
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Hello,
At school, I was taught to say "What can I do for you?", but I have been hearing "What can I do you for?" in many TV series. Is it correct or acceptable? Is it colloquial? It seems a bit strange grammatically to have the pronoun before the preposition.
Thank you,
Nawee |
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Anuradha Chepur
Joined: 20 May 2006
Posts: 933
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| Posted: Mon Sep 04, 2006 8:36 pm Post subject: |
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| I understand this is peculiar American usage, specially by sales people. |
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CP
Joined: 12 Jun 2006
Posts: 2875
Location: California
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| Posted: Tue Sep 05, 2006 5:37 am Post subject: |
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It was probably funny the first time someone inverted the phrase, but now it is lame -- although, as Dr. Chepur noted, still very popular.
It switches up a standard phrase that means, "How can I help you?" to something like, "How can I cheat you?"
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You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb |
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