The proper use of ‘can’ and ‘may’ as a mark of civility

I don’t recall having shared in this column the very basic but interesting discussion below about the usage of the modals “can” and “may.” It was in reply to a question posed by a member of Jose Carillo’s English Forum almost five years ago, and I thought the discussion might help arrest the marked decline in civility in our public and interpersonal communication in English.

The question of Forum member Mylabskie was this: “When should we use ‘may’ and ‘can’? When do we say ‘Cazn I go out?’ and ‘May I go out’?”