Expressions for a Full Meal
2023-03-05
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1And now, Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning English.
2For today's program, we invite you to share a meal with us - well, expressions about a meal, that is.
3Like most languages, English is filled with food expressions.
4Today we will start with two appetizers, continue with the main dish, and finish with dessert.
5In other words, we will take you from soup to nuts - or from the beginning to the end.
6With many meals, soup comes first and nuts come last.
7So, if you do something from soup to nuts you do everything from the beginning to the end.
8An appetizer is the first part of a meal.
9Our first appetizer today is alphabet soup.
10When you have a collection of letters of the alphabet that stand for several words, we can call it an alphabet soup.
11These can be the letters that show a job, such as COO or Chief Operating Officer.
12They could be letters that show someone's education, like an MBA for a Master of Business Administration and a Ph.D. for a Doctor of Philosophy.
13Let's say someone hands you their business card.
14After their name are the letters MBA, Ph.D., and COO.
15You can say, "Wow, that is quite the alphabet soup after your name. But what is it you do exactly?"
16Now, let's move on to the next appetizer - salad.
17A salad usually has some kind of vegetables mixed with cheese, egg, meat, nuts, or, sometimes, fruit.
18Well, when we have a mixture of words or phrases that are difficult to understand, we can call it a word salad.
19Word experts say that in the past, word salad described difficult-to-understand spoken language from people with illnesses.
20However, in recent years, the expression word salad has come to simply mean difficult-to-understand language.
21Now, let's move on to the main dish - in this case, a sandwich.
22You can make a sandwich from anything - meat, cheese, vegetables, tofu, fish, shrimp, or chicken.
23Just put them between two pieces of bread and you have a sandwich.
24You can even make a sandwich from ... criticism!
25A criticism sandwich is a way to soften the delivery of bad news.
26You put the criticism between two nice things - such as praise or approval.
27Here is an example:
28So, your performance in last week's sales meeting was great! Thanks for your help.
29But I'll need you to clean up the report.
30I saw a few things wrong with the numbers.
31But yeah, the client really loved your presentation!
32That could also be called a feedback sandwich.
33But it is made the same way!
34If you love sweets, you will love dessert.
35Now, I could use easy as pie or a piece of cake as examples.
36Both describe something very easy to do or finish. But I am going to use my favorite dessert - cookies!
37Some cookies are formed by hand and their shapes can be very different from one another.
38However, some people use a device called a cookie cutter when making cookies.
39With a cookie cutter, every cookie is the same shape with little difference.
40And that gives us the expression cookie-cutter. It describes something similar to many other things.
41There is nothing special, extraordinary, or different about things that are cookie-cutter.
42For example, houses in my neighborhood were made by the same builders.
43They are all the same size and shape.
44In other words, the houses in my neighborhood are cookie-cutter houses.
45Thanks for joining me for this lunchtime version of Words and Their Stories.
46Until next time ... I'm Anna Matteo.
1And now, Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning English. 2For today's program, we invite you to share a meal with us - well, expressions about a meal, that is. 3Like most languages, English is filled with food expressions. Today we will start with two appetizers, continue with the main dish, and finish with dessert. 4In other words, we will take you from soup to nuts - or from the beginning to the end. With many meals, soup comes first and nuts come last. So, if you do something from soup to nuts you do everything from the beginning to the end. 5Appetizer 6An appetizer is the first part of a meal. Our first appetizer today is alphabet soup. 7When you have a collection of letters of the alphabet that stand for several words, we can call it an alphabet soup. These can be the letters that show a job, such as COO or Chief Operating Officer. They could be letters that show someone's education, like an MBA for a Master of Business Administration and a Ph.D. for a Doctor of Philosophy. 8Let's say someone hands you their business card. After their name are the letters MBA, Ph.D., and COO. You can say, "Wow, that is quite the alphabet soup after your name. But what is it you do exactly?" 9Now, let's move on to the next appetizer - salad. 10A salad usually has some kind of vegetables mixed with cheese, egg, meat, nuts, or, sometimes, fruit. Well, when we have a mixture of words or phrases that are difficult to understand, we can call it a word salad. 11Word experts say that in the past, word salad described difficult-to-understand spoken language from people with illnesses. However, in recent years, the expression word salad has come to simply mean difficult-to-understand language. 12Main dish 13Now, let's move on to the main dish - in this case, a sandwich. You can make a sandwich from anything - meat, cheese, vegetables, tofu, fish, shrimp, or chicken. Just put them between two pieces of bread and you have a sandwich. 14You can even make a sandwich from ... criticism! 15A criticism sandwich is a way to soften the delivery of bad news. You put the criticism between two nice things - such as praise or approval. 16Here is an example: 17So, your performance in last week's sales meeting was great! Thanks for your help. But I'll need you to clean up the report. I saw a few things wrong with the numbers. But yeah, the client really loved your presentation! 18That could also be called a feedback sandwich. But it is made the same way! 19Dessert 20If you love sweets, you will love dessert. 21Now, I could use easy as pie or a piece of cake as examples. Both describe something very easy to do or finish. But I am going to use my favorite dessert - cookies! 22Some cookies are formed by hand and their shapes can be very different from one another. However, some people use a device called a cookie cutter when making cookies. With a cookie cutter, every cookie is the same shape with little difference. 23And that gives us the expression cookie-cutter. It describes something similar to many other things. There is nothing special, extraordinary, or different about things that are cookie-cutter. 24For example, houses in my neighborhood were made by the same builders. They are all the same size and shape. In other words, the houses in my neighborhood are cookie-cutter houses. 25Thanks for joining me for this lunchtime version of Words and Their Stories. 26Until next time ... I'm Anna Matteo. 27Anna Matteo wrote this lesson for VOA Learning English. 28________________________________________________________________________ 29Words in This Story 30appetizer - n. a food or drink usually served before a meal to make one hungrier 31dish - n. food prepared in a particular way 32dessert - n. a usually sweet course or dish (as of pastry or ice cream) usually served at the end of a meal 33business card - n. a small card bearing information (such as name and address) about a business or business representative 34salad - n. raw greens (such as lettuce) often combined with other vegetables and toppings and served especially with dressing 35delivery - n. the act of handing over 36lunchtime - n. the time at which lunch is usually eaten 37______________________________________________________________________ 38We want to hear from you. Do you have a similar expression in your language? In the Comments section, you can also practice using any of the expressions from the story. 39We have a new comment system. Here is how it works: 40Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them. Our comment policy is here.