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Ask for help > Can you help me ?
Can you help me ?
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florimago
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Can you help me ?
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Hi, at present I �m giving a course about customer service and I �m a Little confused with the expression (would you like ) something/ anything else ? Is there a slight difference in meaning ? Thanks in advance for your comments Flori |
8 Dec 2014
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yanogator
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In this context, they are essentially interchangeable. In general, "something" implies that the questioner expects a positive answer, and "anything" a negative answer. If I ask, "Is there something to eat?", then I think that there is something. If I ask, "Is there anything to eat?", then I �m hoping, but not expecting to get something. In this case, I would consider "something" to be a slightly better choice, because the positive anticipation demonstrates a better customer service attitude. However, both are totally natural. Bruce |
8 Dec 2014
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redcamarocruiser
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Examples: At a restaurant 1. The food was unacceptable. The waitress would ask, "Would you like something else?" (a replacement for the awful dish). 2. The restaurant has run out of the daily special which you wanted to order. "Would you like something else?" (a substitution for the dish they are out of). 3. You, the customer, are finished placing your order. The waitress asks "Would you like anything else?" (an addition, asking if you would like to add another food or drink to your order. This is a tactic to increase food sales). The cashier in a small shop or farmer �s market At the farmer �s market, butcher �s, and small shops in general, they often ask "Will there be anything else?" or "What else?" after each item ordered for purchase. In this case, I don �t recall hearing �something � but only �anything � . |
8 Dec 2014
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douglas
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"Anything", as Bruce said, usually means a negative answer is expected; however, as I understand it, it is also used as a polite form (the only reason I could imagine why is that you are not making your guest uncomfortable by "forcing" more upon them).
So on this VERY rare case, I don �t fully agree with Bruce �s putting "something" slightly above "anything"--I agree with the rest though.
Cheers,
Douglas |
8 Dec 2014
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florimago
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Thanks everybody for your help . Mary �s comment on shopping in small shops was great, that was exactly what was confusing me . |
8 Dec 2014
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alien boy
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Mary �s hit the nail on the head with her descriptions for customer service. Cheers, AB |
11 Dec 2014
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