Ask for some tissues? (2025)

Hi.

I was at Starbucks but they didn't have tissues on the table. So I went to the counter I said "May I ask for some tissues?".

Is it natural to ask so?

In the USA, say 'May I have some napkins, please?'

In the UK, say 'May I have some serviettes, please?'

When I was a college student, my spoken English who's a native speaker from the US told me "tissue". So is it natural to ask:

May I have some tissues, please?

Or it's simply wrong. I think napkin is very BrE.

Correct me please. Thanks a lot.

Silver said:

When I was a college student, my spoken English who's a native speaker from the US told me "tissue". So is it natural to ask:
Correct me please. Thanks a lot.

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Yes, "tissue" is used in the US also (but as I've said above, I always ask for Kleenex)
The reason "tissue" is an "issue" with me is that in the US, "tissue paper" usually specifically means toilet paper.....you know, the one that comes in a circular bundle.

If your neighborhood grocer states that he has run out of "tissue paper", he does not mean he's run out of Kleenex.......it means the other thing.

Ponyprof said:

I have never seen Starbucks distribute Kleenex type tissues at the service counter. They distribute napkins in both Canada and the USA.

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Well, I've never been in a Starbucks, actually. You mean they actually distribute cloth napkins if you ask for them? I'll have to go to my close-by S-bucks and check it out myself. (On second thought, I'll just call them). (To me, "napkins" are always made of cloth.....otherwise, they're called paper napkins.). As always my comments deal with US experience.

reno33 said:

To me, "napkins" are always made of cloth.....otherwise, they're called paper napkins.

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Well, I only eat in restaurants with cloth napkins about twice a year, and almost never use them at home, so I disagree. “Napkin” is what I say in all cases, and context provides the specific meaning.

Edinburgher said:

We'd be more likely to use the word "tissue" to describe a paper handkerchief for blowing your nose than something you would use as a napkin or serviette at a table.

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I agree. You'd ask for a paper napkin or a serviette in the UK.

Silver said:

So I went to the counter I said "May I ask for some tissues?".
Is it natural to ask so?

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I wouldn't ask if I could ask for some tissues. It might lead to this:
Silver: May I ask for some tissues?
Counter: Yes, sure, go ahead.
Silver: May I have some tissues?
Counter: Yes, here you go.

Anyway, are you referring to these?

Or to these?

pob14 said:

Well, I only eat in restaurants with cloth napkins about twice a year, and almost never use them at home, so I disagree. “Napkin” is what I say in all cases, and context provides the specific meaning.

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Silver, what kind of paper product is it that you need? If you have a head cold and want to blow your nose, then you can ask for tissues (or, in the US, you can use the brand name "Kleenex", which is used generically.) On the other hand, if you want to wipe your face or hands, or want to blot up some spilled coffee, then you should

ask for "tissues", as that will just confuse everyone. Instead, in the US the only word you would use is "napkins." You would not have to specify the material they were made of, since a restaurant that only had paper napkins would give you what they had. The word "serviette" is not used in American English, and most American English speakers would have no idea what you were talking about if you used that word. English speakers in other countries use both the words "napkin" and "serviette", but there appear to be both regional and class differences in how those words are used, and the material out of which they are made that makes them distinct from each other.

Barque said:

I wouldn't ask if I could ask for some tissues. It might lead to this:
Silver: May I ask for some tissues?
Counter: Yes, sure, go ahead.

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Only an insufferable bore would answer that way. Pragmatically, it's obvious what the purpose of the question is, so people will answer it based on the actual intention. Similarly, when someone says "Do you have the time?", you don't say "Yes, yes I do" and continue along your merry way.

That said, in US English I would expect "Could I ask for some napkins?" Another example would be "Could I ask you to wipe down this table?"

elroy said:

Only an insufferable bore would answer that way. Pragmatically, it's obvious what the purpose of the question is, so people will answer it based on the actual intention. Similarly, when someone says "Do you have the time?", you don't say "Yes, yes I do" and continue along your merry way.

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I didn't think I needed to put in a smiley when I said that, but evidently I did.

reno33 said:

Yes, "tissue" is used in the US also (but as I've said above, I always ask for Kleenex)
The reason "tissue" is an "issue" with me is that in the US, "tissue paper" usually specifically means toilet paper.....you know, the one that comes in a circular bundle.

If your neighborhood grocer states that he has run out of "tissue paper", he does not mean he's run out of Kleenex.......it means the other thing.

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There must be a regional issue there. Everywhere I've lived, "tissue" is facial tissue.
"Tissue paper" is the paper that you wrap around things when wrapping packages.
Toilet paper is toilet paper (it might say "toilet tissue" on the wrapper but no one calls it that either).

In Starbucks they call a paper napkin a napkin. Every takeout franchise here says "the napkins are in the bag" when they hand you your purchase (unless they didn't give you napkins). Since cloth napkins simply don't exist this universe there is no confusion.

I think they would understand tissue as being related to personal hygiene, and since they never dispense facial tissue it would be assumed to be toilet paper. I don't know why the poster here was advised to ask for tissues in a food service setting. It would cause confusion.

I remember the word serviettes, for paper napkins! I haven't heard that in decades!

Ponyprof said:

I don't know why the poster here was advised to ask for tissues in a food service setting. It would cause confusion.

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In Starbucks, they might have "bakery tissue" - those little paper squares that are used to pick up pastries.

Myridon said:

There must be a regional issue there. Everywhere I've lived, "tissue" is facial tissue.
"Tissue paper" is the paper that you wrap around things when wrapping packages.
Toilet paper is toilet paper (it might say "toilet tissue" on the wrapper but no one calls it that either).

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I agree with all three of your definitions. I have lived in eight states in the Northeast, Midwest and West in the US and have never heard of tissue paper as a word for toilet paper.

In a video I watched, a Chinese restaurant put a roll of toilet paper on the table, for customers to use as napkins. It was even in a plastic dispenser. The narrator said that restaurants don't make a distinction: absorbent paper is paper. It works for your mouth, for spills, etc.

In the US, we make distinctions based on use. These 4 have different shapes and textures. They all replace older cloth items:

1. "facial tissue", often called "Kleenex", replaces cloth handkerchiefs. They come in boxes of 100-250.

2. "toilet tissue" is used by toilet users, and comes in a long roll.

3. "paper napkins" replace cloth napkins, and are used to wipe any food stains at meals

4. "paper towels" replace cloth towels, and are used to clean up large areas

So the thing to ask for at Starbucks is a "napkin". Starbucks has paper napkins, because it serves food and beverages.

dojibear said:

4. "paper towels" replace cloth towels, and are used to clean up large areas

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... and, at least in the U.S., are often found in public bathrooms in dispensers. They are normally used to dry one's hands after washing.

dojibear said:

In the US, we make distinctions based on use. These 4 have different shapes and textures. They all replace older cloth items:

1. "facial tissue", often called "Kleenex", replaces cloth handkerchiefs. They come in boxes of 100-250.

2. "toilet tissue" is used by toilet users, and comes in a long roll.

3. "paper napkins" replace cloth napkins, and are used to wipe any food stains at meals

4. "paper towels" replace cloth towels, and are used to clean up large areas

So the thing to ask for at Starbucks is a "napkin". Starbucks has paper napkins, because it serves food and beverages.

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So.....I was right all along....I knew it.

Barque said:

I wouldn't ask if I could ask for some tissues. It might lead to this:
.......

Anyway, are you referring to these?
View attachment 42105

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Barque, I was referring to this one, in square shape. Here in Starbucks, it's in rectangle shape. Thanks a lot.

GreenWhiteBlue said:

Silver, what kind of paper product is it that you need?

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It should be "napkins".

Myridon said:

"Tissue paper" is the paper that you wrap around things when wrapping packages.
Toilet paper is toilet paper (it might say "toilet tissue" on the wrapper but no one calls it that either).

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I've heard of toilet paper use also when I was in college. Another spoken English from Detroit used it when he brought with him a roll of paper (in the round shape) with him. But in China, we do use napkins and toilet paper when we go to the toilet, trust me.

Ponyprof said:

I don't know why the poster here was advised to ask for tissues in a food service setting. It would cause confusion.

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It's definitely another scenario of culture differences, Ponyprof. I was taught at school by a native speaker when I used "napkin" the first time in 2007. Then he corrected me by using "tissue" and I learned a new word because meanwhile I wrote down some other definitions of this word, one is about human body. And I've used this word for "napkin" for many years until last night I asked the question. Also the confusion applies to the difference between "canteen" and "cafeteria". (Another issue, so I'd better start a new thread if I want to talk about this.) Sorry I was sleeping, sorry for the wait for this reply.

Myridon said:

In Starbucks, they might have "bakery tissue" - those little paper squares that are used to pick up pastries.
View attachment 42108

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No, they use this one here.

All in all, we have different papers for use the same purpose here. My fellow compatriots might prove this for me.

Silver said:

Barque, I was referring to this one, in square shape. Here in Starbucks, it's in rectangle shape. Thanks a lot.

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All right.

As an aside,

Silver said:

my spoken English who's a native speaker

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Silver said:

Another spoken English from Detroit used it when he

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people aren't "spoken Englishes". "Spoken English" just refers to the spoken form of English, as distinct from writing.

Barque said:

All right.

As an aside,

people aren't "spoken Englishes". "Spoken English" just refers to the spoken form of English, as distinct from writing.

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That was a very stupid mistake. I meant to say "My spoken English teacher who's a native speaker"