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I was walking on the web and came across this question:
What do you say we get out of here?
It's seems to me a tad slangy. I don't quite follow the structure of this sentence. It's like something is missing. For me, this sentence would sound more grammatically correct with "if". For example:
What do you say if we get out of here?
So, my question is: is it slang? When we can use "if" and when we can do without it?
It is indeed informal (I don't use the word slang).
Your paraphrase is grammatical, but I don't think it has the same meaning. I don't think if is what's omitted.
I think the full version would read something like:
What do you say to the suggestion that we get out of here?
A more normal version would be
What do you say about (us) getting out of here?
Used like this what do you say is an idiom. Like many idioms, it uses unusual syntax and like other idioms, you should not try to change its form (except as intentional wordplay).
We use the idiom what do you say I/we X to make a suggestion:
What do you say we go to the movies after dinner => Let's go to the movies after dinner
It's very similar in meaning and use to how would you like to X, how would you like it if we X, or how about we X. This is to say, like those "how would you like" expressions, what do you say we X is maybe slightly less pushy than let's do X.
Grammatically correct or not, the problem is that adding an if completely changes the meaning of the sentence.
"What do you say we get out of here?" is what you'd ask a companion if you don't like the place you're at, for instance it's a really boring party and you'd rather be somewhere else.
"What do you say IF we get out of here?" implies that there's some doubt about your ability to get out. Say you're trapped in the dungeon with a horde of hungry monsters on your trail, you might turn to your companion and say something like that.
