suit yourself - as you wish

[blizzy]

Are both phrases possible? Is there any difference between "As you wish" and "Suit yourself" at all?
Shall we go out for dinner tonight? As you wish.
Shall we go out for dinner tonight? Suit yourself.

 

[emsr2d2]

"As you wish" sounds very old-fashioned and it's not really an answer to the question although it would probably be taken to mean "Yes".

"Suit yourself" is not appropriate here. Not only does it sound rather rude, it definitely doesn't answer the question. If the first person had said "I'm going out for dinner on my own tonight", the other person might say, rather grumpily, "Suit yourself". It basically means "You can do what you want!"

Some possible natural answers to the question would be:
- Yes!
- Great idea!
- Wonderful. I'll get dressed!
- No, I don't really fancy it.
- No, I've already cooked dinner!
- Maybe. I'll let you know later.

 

[blizzy]

Well, I think I'm a polite person. Thank you so much for giving me this comprehensive explanation in terms of "Suit yourself."

 

[blizzy]

One more question.

What about the phrase "As you want."?

Shall we go out for dinner tonight? As you want.

Would that be appropriate and sounds natural?

 

[emsr2d2]

No.

 

[Skrej]

It's possible, but it still sounds as if the speaker is rather indifferent to the suggestion. It's also a bit stilted or formal.

A more casual variant is "If you like/want", but again it suggests the speaker isn't very enthusiastic about it, and is probably just agreeing to avoid saying 'no'.

 

[emsr2d2]

I would say that "As you want" doesn't work at all in BrE.

I agree about the two casual phrases in Skrej's post.

 

[blizzy]

"As you want." - A brief and at first sight so easy phrase. At least from my German point of view.
Good to know, that this doesn't work at all! Thank you so much.

 

[blizzy]

What if I say it this way?
Q: Shall we go out for dinner tonight or should we stay at home instead? A: Whatever you like.

 

[GoesStation]

What if I say it this way?
Q: Shall we go out for dinner tonight or should we stay at home instead? A: Whatever you like.

It's still not very polite. If you really don't care and want to leave the decision to the other party, you should ask what they prefer.

 

[emsr2d2]

That's OK although I can't see any reason to use "Shall" at the start and "should" in the middle.

Shall we go out for dinner tonight or stay at home?
Shall we go out for dinner or stay at home tonight?
Tonight, shall we go out for dinner or stay at home?

You could also use "eat at home" or "eat in". In fact, you could use "eat out" too.

 

[blizzy]

Okay. Next round.

Q: Shall we have dinner in a fancy restaurant?

What if I would answer in the following way?
1. I leave to you.
2. Whatever you prefer.
3. That's up to.
4. I leave up to you.
5. That depends on you.
6. If you like.

 

[GoesStation]

Okay. Next round.

Q: Shall we have dinner in a fancy restaurant? In AmE we'd be much more likely to ask Do you want to have dinner in a fancy restaurant?

What if I [strike]would[/strike] answered in the following way?
1. I leave it to you.
2. Whatever you prefer.
3. That's up to you.
4. I leave it up to you.
5. That depends on you.
6. If you like.

With my amendments, they're all grammatically correct. All but number 5 mean the same thing and are equally likely to provoke an angry response. Number 5 is worse; it suggests that the other party has to to do something to earn the meal.

 

[blizzy]

All but number 5 mean the same thing and are equally likely to provoke an angry response.

That's good to know!

 

[GoesStation]

I've fixed another error I just noticed in the post that I quoted in post #13.