Will I ?

[Dragonlette]

Earlier on today at school there was some discussion about people saying "will I do x?", like "will I google him?" meaning "do you want me to google him?"

Is it wrong to use "will I ...?" in that context? We were not in a formal situation, just hanging around in the staff room at lunchtime. We are not English teachers, who I hope would know if it's acceptable or not. Is it slang? A regional thing? Or perfectly fine?

[lottiegarbanzo]

Will I for should I is Scottish, I believe. Sounds v odd to my ear, 'will you? I don't know, will you, or not?'.

[MrsBungle]

I'm Scottish and would always say "shall I". I've no idea what's right or wrong though

[Dragonlette]

I'm not Scottish but I think it sounds fine. Other teachers were comparing it to getting lend and borrow the wrong way round, but they couldn't explain exactly why it would be wrong.

[DramaAlpaca]

'Will I...?' is used a lot in Ireland too, so certainly regional.

(Irish) DH says it all the time, and since living in Ireland I've picked it up too.

You lend an item to someone, but you borrow it from them

[lottiegarbanzo]

Why is it wrong, in a 'standard English grammar rather than dialect meaning' sense? Well, because it is asking whether they are going to do something, which only they and their god can know the answer to, not whether they should do something. Yet, as I've heard it in Scotland only, they are expecting an answer to the latter question.

Will I go to the shop? I might, I might not, it depends on whether I need to buy anything. I'm not seeking anyone's opinion on the matter, just musing.

Should I / shall I go to the shop? It might depend on how much I need to buy something that day. I am seeking an opinion.

Better, real life, example. 'Will I go to the bar?' 'I don't know, will you?'. 'Should I (or shall I) go to the bar?' 'Yes please, mine's a pint'.

Only one of those is asking a question relevant to the other person.

[lottiegarbanzo]

So, my pedantic answer would be 'will you google him? I don't know whether you will or not. Are you trying to ask me whether you should? I think you should. Only you can do it, so only you know whether you actually will'.