Say, if someone phoned me and asked to speak with someone else, can I say 'All right, I will go grab him for you.' to mean 'I will physically bring him over/tell him to come to speak with you on the phone.'?
I believe I have heard 'grab' being used this way, but am worried that it might sound vulgar and have negative connotations. My worries were somewhat confirmed when I came across This story
What are some other words/ways to express the same idea, colloquial or formal? Please give me as many alternatives as you can come up with.
Many thanks in advance.
Best Answer
In your given context, it is quite clear that you mean that you will bring the other person to the phone. Because it is a common expression, in such a context, I will go grab him for you is not meant to be taken literally. It simply means that you will bring or direct the other person to the phone.
The anecdote referenced seems to me to be an extreme case. The person admits "Now, being the visual person that I am, my mind started up its visions of the grabbing". In my opinion, the person purposefully misconstrued the expression. There was not enough context to support the interpretation of literal grabbing.
Some alternative expressions are
I prefer the first one.