Overheard at the LFGSS golf club bar

I reckon if you use someone more than once and intend to use them again you can say ‘my’

If you need to regularly engage the services of a professional you're probably a rich bastard, hence golf club.

All those rich bastards regularly using dentists and doctors.

if you use someone more than once and intend to use them again you

Again it’s semantics, but if I come round to your house and do a job, I’m not overly fond of you saying you “used me”, lol.

I was thinking more plumber, barber, weed guy than manservant, sommelier, fund manager.

Never really thought about the ownership of using my before I'd just say "I'm off t'doctors"

Are you working as Mr Nef or Nef Ltd though?

Talking to someone else:
‘We have a guy called Nef who does our X’
‘We use Nef Ltd to do our X’

I did actually think about typing ‘engaged someone for professional services’, but ‘used’ is shorthand.

Should it be 'Our Cav', 'My Cav' or 'The Cav'?

R Cav every time patriot

O Captain! the Captain! our fearful trip is done,
The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won,
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;
But O heart! heart! heart!
O the bleeding drops of red,
Where on the deck the Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.

(With apologies to W.Whitman.)

The possessive (my/our) would usually be used in comparative situations as shorthand for 'the person I consulted/employed' etc.
I go to the doctor, but my doctor recommended a lobotomy.
I have builders in, but my builders sourced cheap crittall windows.
I have a 9 o'clock tee time at the golf club, but my golf club doesn't allow women to be full members.
That type of thing. It's not an implication of ownership as much as a quick way of saying it's a specific person/thing rather than a general one. In the opinion.

https://youtu.be/-Iw0-U9OknI

Surely objecting to my coffee roaster, my plumber etc is just assuming negative intentions behind it?

A good example is the person who is lead developer at my company. I refer to him as "my lead developer" sometimes in work conversations. Its not because I own him or he owes me, its because he's a crucial part of my business who I value and depend on and he's the only person in my company who leads development. It'd be the same if I ever felt I wanted to say "my coffee roaster". It'd be because I value their service and my relationship with them not because of some weird power play.

Edit: Of course, if I had ever shown a track record of entitlement to my coffee roaster or my lead dev, that would be different. Seems shitty to assume that though.

It's "The Boss" not "my boss" to you

And while this thread was originally intended to poke fun at things taken out of context, it has become a way for people to sneer at others, usually unfairly, and with the expectation that they don't respond or "derail" as others have put it.

ffs people.

the point is clearly where 'my' is used to imply you have an regular and ongoing need for a person to provide a service that for others is a very rare or one-off transaction, or that your needs can only be met by a specific individual, where others' needs can be met by a generic service from a company.

... as a subtle 'flex' as the kids say.

'my bike fitter' is a classic example, as it also implies:

• you have not only multiple bikes, but buy them regularly, and expect to do so again shortly
  
• your specific needs cannot be met by the standard level of fit checking when buying a bike
  
• you would rather spend £400 again than simply replicate a few measurements from your previous purchase
  

Or you have a disability of some kind.

no need to worry, my accountant handles that

The truth behind the Kangol flat cap finally revealed.

get your hands off my man

My Stonehedge made some good point.

You'll always be my Scoble xoxox

Saying “we got Nef in and he did X” seems a bit nicer than “we used Nef to do X” IMO.

But you’re right, if instead of Nef, it was a large company not associated with an individual like “Domestic Energy Solutions”, it seems fair to say used.

👌

"My electrician is wonderful - we first used him a couple of years ago and now wouldn't use anyone else, his work is excellent, he's really professional and never leaves the place in a mess (unlike the majority of others we've had in over the years), and more than anything else we trust him and find that communication is spot on. Honestly, as long as he can fit us in we'll never go elsewhere".

Is this the right place to discuss my tailor?*

I don’t have one, there is a vacancy
And a requirement for actual tailoring