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Must be a US English <-> British English thing, but I thought this was about asking a new acquaintance to buy some coffee for me. "Everything I am afraid might
by 4ndrewl 10y ago
Must be a US English <-> British English thing, but I thought this was about asking a new acquaintance to buy some coffee for me.
"Everything I am afraid might happen if I asked a new acquaintance to meet for coffee."
- et-al 10y agoIt's definitely a colloquial US thing. We say "let's get coffee/beers/lunch sometime" almost everyday, especially when parting as a "see you later". Whether we actually follow up with those invitations here in San Francisco is a completely other story.
- __derek__ 10y agoSame in Seattle, except it's "Let's go for a hike/climb/ride some time!"
- aninhumer 10y agoYeah, but that's "let us get coffee" which is normal. The unusual language being highlighted here is "ask to get coffee" without specifying "together" or "with them". Without that, I parse "get coffee" as an instruction, thus meaning asking them to go and buy some coffee for you.
- et-al 10y agoI agree with you that it's awkward; however, "get coffee" is now a colloquial term, which is why most people probably didn't read it the grammatically correct way. But yes, depending on how one reads, the title takes on a totally different meaning. I usually have this trouble.
- cloudjacker 10y agoto get coffee [together] there.
- nailer 10y agoDitto. I thought of: - They'll go to StarBucks or Nero or Costa some other god awful chain with over-roasted fully or semi robusta coffee - They'll want me to explain what a flat white is - They'll put sugar in my drink - They'll get me some kind of American milkshake instead of a coffee.
- jccalhoun 10y agoI am an American and I though it as asking someone to go get me some coffee like at work. I thought it was going to be that they might pee in it or something.