Grab a file and come to my room.

[Ashraful Haque]

Here's the context:
The son of an owner of a company is dating an employee. The father doesn't know about it. The son wants the employee to come to his room but the father (owner) is around the the girl's desk. So she says:

Girl: What if he asks why I'm going to your room.
Son: Just grab a file and if he asks tell him I want to see it.

What does grab something actually mean? Does it mean to carry something in your hand?

 

[Rover_KE]

Please tell us the source and author of this dialogue.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Here's the context:
The son of an owner of a company is dating an employee. The father doesn't know about it. The son wants the employee to come to his office, but the father (the owner) is around the the woman's desk. So she says:

Woman: What if he asks why I'm going to your office?
Son: Just grab a file, and if he asks, tell him I want to see it.

What does grab something actually mean? Does it mean to carry something in your hand?

Yes. A file.

 

[Ashraful Haque]

Please tell us the source and author of this dialogue.

I'm afraid am the author :-?
Something similar happened to me. I just changed the context but the dialogues are the same.

 

[emsr2d2]

I'm afraid I am the author. :-?
Something similar happened to me. I just changed the context but the [STRIKE]dialogues[/STRIKE] dialogue [STRIKE]are[/STRIKE] is the same.

Note my corrections above.

 

[emsr2d2]

Here's the context:

The son of [STRIKE]an[/STRIKE] the owner of a company is dating [STRIKE]an[/STRIKE] one of the female employees. [STRIKE]The[/STRIKE] His father doesn't know about it. The son wants the employee to come to his [STRIKE]room[/STRIKE] office but the father (owner) is [STRIKE]around[/STRIKE] near the [STRIKE]the[/STRIKE] girl's desk. So she says:

Girl: What if he asks why I'm going to your [STRIKE]room[/STRIKE] office?
Son: Just grab a file and, if he asks, tell him I want to see it.

What does "grab something" actually mean? Does it mean to carry something in your hand?

Note my corrections above. Generally, it means "pick something up quickly". However, it doesn't have to mean "quickly". In this context, it just means "Pick up any file and ...".

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Those are similar to my corrections.

I'll just add that my room usually means my bedroom. A person's room at work is usually called an office.

The British also say my rooms, plural, which means my apartment.

 

[emsr2d2]

The British also say my rooms, plural, which means my apartment.

No one I know says that. It's not entirely unfamiliar but I associate it with the English of many decades ago. Also, "rooms" was used to mean "rented rooms". For example, "I have taken rooms above a shop in Parker Street".

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

No one I know says that. It's not entirely unfamiliar but I associate it with the English of many decades ago. Also, "rooms" was used to mean "rented rooms". For example, "I have taken rooms above a shop in Parker Street".

Oops. I guess I've read too much Sherlock Holmes and Evelyn Waugh. (If that's possible.)

So, yes, I meant rented rooms — i.e. an apartment.

 

[emsr2d2]

Oops. I guess I've read too much Sherlock Holmes and Evelyn Waugh. (If that's possible.)

So, yes, I meant rented rooms — i.e. an apartment.

Rented rooms in that era were rarely what anyone would call an apartment. They were usually just one or two rooms, either a bedroom or maybe a bedroom and a sitting room. They would share the kitchen and bathroom with the owner of the property.

 

[probus]

Here's the context:
The son of an owner of a company

I think emsr2d2 was a bit hasty when she changed "an owner" to "the owner". Not only do many businesses have multiple owners, there can even be many types of owners with varying rights and interests.

 

[emsr2d2]

I hesitated before doing it and did it anyway. I find "The son of an owner of a company ..." unnatural. If there are multiple owners, I would expect "The son of one of the owners of a company ...".

 

[probus]

I'll just add that my room usually means my bedroom. A person's room at work is usually called an office.

I think in BrE my room can mean my office. Even if that is no longer the case in Britain today, I know for certain that the usage persists in the subcontinent, where Ashraful Haque lives.

 

[emsr2d2]

It doesn't work in BrE. That's why I changed it. "Come to my room" suggests "Come to my bedroom/hotel room". Before reading that the man's father was standing near the woman's desk, making it clear it was an office situation, I had assumed that the man had invited her to his bedroom (private or hotel).

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

It doesn't work in BrE. That's why I changed it. "Come to my room" suggests "Come to my bedroom/hotel room". Before reading that the man's father was standing near the woman's desk, making it clear it was an office situation, I had assumed that the man had invited her to his bedroom (private or hotel).

Yup. Looks like it's the same in both the US and UK.

 

[Ashraful Haque]

Those are similar to my corrections.

I'll just add that my room usually means my bedroom. A person's room at work is usually called an office.

The British also say my rooms, plural, which means my apartment.

I see. So we say 'office' even if I'm talking about just a single room in an office building? I though office was the entire building/place where we work.

 

[Ashraful Haque]

I think in BrE my room can mean my office. Even if that is no longer the case in Britain today, I know for certain that the usage persists in the subcontinent, where Ashraful Haque lives.

We do say 'room' when referring to someone's room in a workplace. If you watch Bollywood movies you'll often here the boss saying to his subordinates "Come to my room right away."

 

[GoesStation]

I see. So we say 'office' even if I'm talking about just a single room in an office building? I though office was the entire building/place where we work.

That's an office building. We do, however, say things like "I'll have to check with the office," where "office" means "my place of employment". "My office" means "the room or cubicle where I usually work".

 

[Ashraful Haque]

Girl: What if he asks why I'm going to your office.
Son: Just grab a file and if he asks tell him I want to see it.

So did I use 'grab' correctly? Does it mean that you just keep it in your hand?

 

[GoesStation]

It means that you picked up a file without much consideration of which one you chose.