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| From Ancora Imparo |
As we remember Nicolas Appert, who was born on 23 October year 1752. Appert is honored as the father (or pere) of canning. He answered Napoleon's challenge to devise a method for preserving food for troops far afield; and, after more than a dozen years of work, took home the 12,000 franc prize.
We could talk about canning and its place in English language but we'd prefer to limit our can discussion to a candid look at where can fits into the continuum of power, possibility, and permission.
Schoolchildren learn the rule that can is used for ability (can I complete the homework assignment in less time than you?) while may is used to request permission (may I use the calculator to answer the question?). But language watchers know this rule is frequently left at the schoolhouse gate.
Why? Probably because can and may are frequently interchangeable in senses denoting possibility. Possibility, of course, plays into both ability (or power) and permission. Because the possibility of a person's doing something may (or can) depend upon another's acquiescence, both can and may are used—since at least as long ago as the 19th century—to denote permission. And although some commentators advise may for more formal contexts, you're in good company whichever word you choose.
We could talk about canning and its place in English language but we'd prefer to limit our can discussion to a candid look at where can fits into the continuum of power, possibility, and permission.
Schoolchildren learn the rule that can is used for ability (can I complete the homework assignment in less time than you?) while may is used to request permission (may I use the calculator to answer the question?). But language watchers know this rule is frequently left at the schoolhouse gate.
Why? Probably because can and may are frequently interchangeable in senses denoting possibility. Possibility, of course, plays into both ability (or power) and permission. Because the possibility of a person's doing something may (or can) depend upon another's acquiescence, both can and may are used—since at least as long ago as the 19th century—to denote permission. And although some commentators advise may for more formal contexts, you're in good company whichever word you choose.
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