Learn English – “the best you could say” vs “the best you can say”

grammarverbs

One want to ask a question in regard to a person's suggestion to contribute:

Tina: "You should get laid more than once a year"

Tom: "the best you could say?

should I use can or could?

Best Answer

I can't really come up with any form involving "the best you could say" that sounds at all like something a native speaker would say. Depending on what exactly you're trying to get across, one of the following might be appropriate:

  • "Don't you have anything better to say?" - Ralph's suggestion is a good one, here, especially if you're wanting to chastise someone for being impolite, crude, etc. In my head, this feels like something a mother would ask of her child to scold them.
  • "Is that the best you could come up with?" This is a bit closer to your original phrasing, and can have a similar meaning to the phrase above, but with a more condescending/taunting overtone.
  • While I don't think it's what you're going for, there are some common phrases that are used in response to rude statements, again usually to scold children. E.g. "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all". These probably aren't appropriate in this context, but I thought I'd mention them.
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