can/may
so i'm kinda pendantic about can and may. like the little leaguers ask, coach! can i go to the bathroom. and i look at them hopping from foot to foot. and i say, if you *can* find a buddy, you *may* go to the bathroom. usually one can tell from context when may is meant when can is said. and vice versa. and it's usually not the difference between life and death. usually. but not always. like say, you're a teenage girl. with cancer. and the doctor says, you can't get pregnant. cause she'll have to either terminate the pregnancy or terminate the treatments. which were pretty much her only hope for survival. so anywho. she told her boyfriend. cool! you can't get pregnant. so guess what. she got pregnant. and now the boyfriend's an unwed teen dad. so yeah. speak english with precision.