Learn English – Is it very wrong to say “can you pass the salt?” expecting people to pass the salt

grammaticalitymeaningquestionsslangword-usage

It makes sense to just pass the salt when someone says, "can you pass the salt?", but how grammatically incorrect is that?

Are we supposed to just answer yes for that question?

This happens in various situations. For instance, even teachers say "can you find the odd one out?
1 1 1 2 1 1 "
So, should one just say "yes" or should they say "2" ?

I apologise if the question is lame.

Best Answer

Literal interpretations of words can lead to confusion, for example:

Quincy: Do you know the way to the train station?

Albert: Yes.

is a very literal answer to an honest question, and not helpful at all to the questioner.

Such answering is called pedantic:

A pedant is a person who is excessively concerned with formalism, accuracy, and precision, or one who makes an ostentatious and arrogant show of learning.

which is neither right nor wrong, just annoying.

Related Topic