# Go and <bring><fetch><get>



## zaffy

I was conducting a class, wrting things up on the white board and at some point the marker was getting weaker and weaker and the students struggled seeing the things. All the other markers I could find in the classroom were dead too.

I went up to one student and said to him what translates into English: "Jump for a marker". In other words, I asked him to leave the classroom, go downstairs to the janitor, get a new marker and come back. Our 'jump" also implies the task is supposed to be done quickly just like the verb implies and it sounds colloquial.

Now, I was wondering how you would express that in English. I guess these work but they don't sound colloquial, right?

_Go and bring a marker.
Go and fetch a marker._

Plus AE doesn't use "and" and "fetch", right? So that would be this, right?
_Go bring a marker. 
Go get a marker._


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## heypresto

Assuming the person you are speaking to knows where to get a new marker from, you could say "Please go and get me a new marker."

If he or she doesn't know, you will have to be more specific.


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## Tegs

"Go and get a marker" is what I'd say. You could add "Quickly please!" afterwards. For me,  "fetch" is only associated with dogs (I am from Ireland though, it may be different in England).



zaffy said:


> I came up to one student and said to him what


A minor side issue: "I _went_ up to one student", I wouldn't use the verb _come_ here (if talking from the student's perspective it's fine though, i.e. the teacher _came_ up to me).

_Cross-posted_.


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## ewie

_Fetch me a marker ~ and don't hang around. Please._


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## Enquiring Mind

The "jump" idea (it's the same in Czech) can be translated (in BrE) by "nip out" ("... and get a new marker").


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## zaffy

Tegs said:


> A minor side issue: "I _went_ up to one student",


Thanks, I edited it.


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## ewie

Enquiring Mind said:


> The "jump" idea (it's the same in Czech) can be translated (in BrE) by "nip out" ("... and get a new marker").


 Or in Zaffy's case _nip down and ..._


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## zaffy

ewie said:


> Or in Zaffy's case _nip down and ..._



I see. So do you find this absolutely natural in that context? And it does sound colloquial, right?

_Nip down and get a marker. _

Well, I'm asking if it sounds natural, because none of you'd come up with it right away until EnquinrgMind mentioned it.

Is "nip" your everyday usage?


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## Elizabeth Kangolle

zaffy said:


> I was conducting a class, wrting things up on the white board and at some point the marker was getting weaker and weaker and the students struggled seeing the things. All the other markers I could find in the classroom were dead too.
> 
> I went up to one student and said to him what translates into English: "Jump for a marker". In other words, I asked him to leave the classroom, go downstairs to the janitor, get a new marker and come back. Our 'jump" also implies the task is supposed to be done quickly just like the verb implies and it sounds colloquial.
> 
> Now, I was wondering how you would express that in English. I guess these work but they don't sound colloquial, right?
> 
> _Go and bring a marker.
> Go and fetch a marker._
> 
> Plus AE doesn't use "and" and "fetch", right? So that would be this, right?
> _Go bring a marker.
> Go get a marker._


Go get a marker


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## zaffy

Elizabeth Kangolle said:


> Go get a marker


Thanks. Welcome to the forums. You're an AE speaker, right?


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## Loob

zaffy said:


> I see. So do you find this absolutely natural in that context? And it does sound colloquial, right?
> 
> _Nip down and get a marker. _
> 
> Well, I'm asking if it sounds natural, because none of you'd come up with it right away until EnquinrgMind mentioned it.
> 
> Is "nip" your everyday usage?


"Nip [out]" was my immediate reaction when I read post 1.


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## Szkot

Or you could *pop* down ...


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## zaffy

Looks like "nip" is indeed the right equivalent of "jump" in Polish. And Longman does mention "pop" too.  Looking at the last example, this is exactly what we would say in Polish, that is "I’ve got to jump home and change my clothes."







Does "pop" work in the last example?
"I’ve got to pop home and change my clothes."


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## Loob

zaffy said:


> Does "pop" work in the last example?
> "I’ve got to pop home and change my clothes."


It works; but I'd be more likely to say "nip".

PS.
Another thread for you:
Nip/pop/go out for a coffee?


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## heypresto

'Nip' and 'pop' both work for me. 

But I would always add 'please'. And 'thank you' upon their return.


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## DonnyB

heypresto said:


> 'Nip' and 'pop' both work for me.
> 
> But I would always add 'please'. And 'thank you' upon their return.


I would happily use either.

[When I was at school, the teachers never generally bothered with nicities such "please" and "thank you" when they told a pupil to go and do something.  ]


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## heypresto

Some (most?) of mine probably didn't either. That could be a reason why I _would_.


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## zaffy

So instead of this:

_Go to the shops and get some milk, please._

I might say these in casual language, right? Is "a shop" implied?

_Nip out and get some milk, please.
Pop out and get some milk, please._


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## heypresto

zaffy said:


> I might say these in casual language, right? Is "a shop" implied?


Yes, and yes.


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## zaffy

And do you sense any kind of diference between these three in that classroom scenario?

_1. Go and bring a marker, please.
2. Go and fetch a marker, please
3. Go and get a marker, please._

Does any of them imply a bigger distance to be covered to get the marker?
Does "get" sound informal or American?


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## Keith Bradford

zaffy said:


> ... I'm asking if "nip" sounds natural, because none of you'd come up with it right away until EnquinrgMind mentioned it.
> 
> Is "nip" your everyday usage?


Yes, perfectly, as are "pop" and "run".  All of them equate quite closely to your idea of "jump".  All of them sound a little more natural with a following adverb, 

Nip *down *and fetch me a marker (e.g... from the stockroom downstairs.)
Pop *out *and get me some milk (e.g... from the shop outside.)
Run *along *and find me a marker (e.g... from another room along the corridor.)


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## Tegs

Would any of you from England use "fetch"? I'm just curious now.


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## Loob

Keith Bradford said:


> Run *along *and find me a marker (e.g... from another room along the corridor.)


I'd be unlikely to use "run along" - and if I did, it would only be with a small child.


Tegs said:


> Would any of you from England use "fetch"? I'm just curious now.


I'd be much more likely to use "get".


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## ewie

Tegs said:


> Would any of you from England use "fetch"? I'm just curious now.





ewie said:


> _Fetch me a marker ~ and don't hang around. Please._


I think I'd be more likely to use _fetch_ than _get_.

But I never use _pop_.


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## Tegs

Interesting! Thanks to you both for your answers on the "fetch" issue.

I would use "pop" but not "nip" or "run along".


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## Keith Bradford

Tegs said:


> Would any of you from England use "fetch"? I'm just curious now.


Yes certainly.  The situation fulfils all three requirements for *fetch*, which are _*go + acquire object + return to point of departure*_.


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## sound shift

I might say, "(Can you) Go and ask the caretaker [US Eng: "janitor"] for a new marker? Be quick."


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## Tegs

Keith Bradford said:


> The situation fulfils all three requirements for *fetch*, which are _*go + acquire object + return to point of departure*_.


Oh yes, I know, I just wondered how commonly it is used. Sorry, perhaps my question wasn't very clear! 

It's just that I can't think of a situation in which I'd use "fetch" other than with a dog. I'd just use "get" in other contexts. But I'm wondering if that's an Irish thing or if it's also true of English in England.


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## sound shift

Re. #28

I seem to recall from some other threads that AmE speakers don't use "fetch" other than with a dog, so I don't think this is just an Irish thing.

I could happily say, "Could you fetch that red file down (from the top shelf)?" or similar.


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## zaffy

sound shift said:


> I could happily say, "Could you fetch that red file down (from the top shelf)?" or similar.


I thought "fetch" would imply a bigger distance like going to a different room. In your secnerio, that could just be a meter or two, right?


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## Loob

Tegs said:


> I can't think of a situation in which I'd use "fetch" other than with a dog.


I'm the same - and I'm not Irish. (I'm originally from Somerset.)


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## sound shift

zaffy said:


> I thought "fetch" would imply a bigger distance like going to a different room. In your secnerio, that could just be a meter or two, right?


Yes.


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## kentix

In AE we wouldn't use nip. We might use pop. We might use zip. We wouldn't use fetch.

And a janitor is unlikely to have anything to do with markers.


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## zaffy

kentix said:


> In AE we wouldn't use nip. We might use pop. We might use *zip*. We wouldn't use fetch.


And how would you word a sentence in that context? Does this work? In our school, the janitor deals out markers. There are over 30 classrooms and if a teacher needs a new marker, they send a student to the janitor's office at the entrence of the school. 

"Zip to the janitor's office and get a new marker"


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## DonnyB

Tegs said:


> Would any of you from England use "fetch"? I'm just curious now.


The teacher might've said "Can one of you go and fetch the caretaker", but he'd have been more likely to have used "get" for a marker pen.  That's assuming we would have known where they were kept and would have been allowed access to them, by the way.


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## zaffy

DonnyB said:


> That's assuming we would have known where they were kept and would have been allowed access to them, by the way.


Yes, that's how it works in my school.


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## DonnyB

zaffy said:


> "Zip to the janitor's office and get a new marker"


"Zip" doesn't really work in BE in that context.


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## zaffy

DonnyB said:


> "Zip" doesn't really work in BE in that context.


And do you like this example, or is that AE?


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## DonnyB

zaffy said:


> And do you like this example, or is that AE?
> 
> View attachment 64583


It may or may not be AE, but I don't think a BE speaker would say it.


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## PaulQ

Tegs said:


> Would any of you from England use "fetch"? I'm just curious now.


As indicated, I'm with Keith at #26, soundshift #24, and ewie #24 on this. I am wondering if the use of fetch is commoner in the UK Midlands and North.


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## ewie

_zip_ is very *very* fast to me: I could zip to the bathroom, but I couldn't zip to London ... or even Liverpool. (I'm in Manchester, at home, by the way.)


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## kentix

"Zip _down_ to the janitor's office and get a new marker."
"Zip _over_..." (as in the dictionary example)

It doesn't sound right without something like down or over.


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## Wordy McWordface

Tegs said:


> Would any of you from England use "fetch"? I'm just curious now.


I wouldn't.  'Fetch' feels quite old-fashioned to me. It's not a word I use or hear much.

I would ask the student to get me a marker.

If you haven't got a dog, you can live your entire life speaking English and never need to utter the word 'fetch'.


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## ewie

Wordy McWordface said:


> If you haven't got a dog, you can live your entire life speaking English and never need to utter the word 'fetch'.


I haven't got a dog but, like millions of other apparently old-fashioned folk in the north of England, I use _fetch_ about 19 times a week. You couldn't go a day here without hearing it  I forgive you, though, Wordy


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## abluter

Another possibility is "*Hop* downstairs/next door/out for a new marker, would you?
"Fetch" doesn't worry me, but I've never kept a dog.


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## elroy

Could you go get me a marker real quick?


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## heypresto

I vaguely remember 'fetch' being used in reprimands like 'Grrr! I'll fetch you a clip round the ear, you young scallywag!'


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## Tegs

ewie said:


> I haven't got a dog but, like millions of other apparently old-fashioned folk in the north of England, I use _fetch_ about 19 times a week. You couldn't go a day here without hearing it  I forgive you, though, Wordy


 Fascinating that it's so indispensable to some and so old-fashioned to others  - I'll be sure to pay more attention to what people say next time I'm in your neck of the woods.


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## Tom302

Depends on whether you want British or US or some other variant. In the US, we never say “nip.” I would say, “could you run down and get me a marker please.”

”run“ is optional and only if you want to emphasize speed.


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## Keith Bradford

elroy said:


> Could you go get me a marker real quick?


What an excellent example of the gulf between AE and BE.  In Britain, that short sentence of Elroy's would count as ungrammatical on at least three counts...


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## PaulQ




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