[mesmark]

I had a Japanese teacher asked me about levels of politeness. He wanted to know which was more polite:

Can you ...?
Will you ...?
Could you ...?
Would you ...?

I told him that latter two are more polite and usage would depend on what you wanted to request. I also added that politeness in English is somewhat tied to the words but has more to do with how you say it as opposed to what you say.

Then he said that university scholars have said 'Will you ... ?' is the most polite form. It's in professional literature. (the original was a trap, I guess.)

To that I said it may have to do with which English we're talking about, but it didn't sound right to me. I also said I'd see what others think and here I am.

Can that be right? He didn't have any data from articles on him. Who knows, he may have heard it from someone who heard it from someone.

What do you think?