Episode 0248

Hello everyone and welcome to English Pod. My name is Marco.

My name is Catherine and today we've got another lesson all about food and eating.

So today we're going to talk about all the tools that we use when we're at the table. So what we use when we're eating.

That's right. So let's take a listen to today's dialogue and when we come back, we'll talk about some of these words and some of the great phrases you're learning today.

Honey, can you set the table?

Um, sure. What are we having for dinner? Do I need to put anything out in particular?

Well, make sure to put out the pepper and salt shakers. I don't know if your brother is coming tonight. So set an extra placemat just in case.

Okay. Should I use the fancy silverware?

Yeah, go ahead. Forks, spoons, and knives. I roasted some meat, so be sure to put out some steak knives as well.

I'll also set some cups and saucers for some coffee after dinner.

Honey, have you seen our soup bowls?

All right, we're back. So now let's take a look at a couple of words in language takeaway.

Language takeaway.

So our first word is a very important one. Uh, you might have heard it before. The word is silverware.

Okay, silverware. Now, this means that it's usually made something that's made out of silver, right?

It could be. Maybe traditionally it's made out of silver, but it doesn't have to be. You could have wooden silverware or other metals. It's basically the things that you use to eat food with.

Okay, so we're going to take this as a category. Silverware are all the tools that we use to eat food with. And in this, so for example, a fork is part of a silverware.

It's a kind of silverware, fork. A fork is the one that you usually put in your mouth with a piece of lettuce or meat or something.

Okay, so it's pointy. It has a like four little points. Now, uh, the one that we use to have dessert or to have soup with, we call that a spoon.

A spoon, that's right. So to eat yogurt or ice cream, you use a spoon. And finally, to cut things, you use a knife.

Okay, so in the dialogue we saw the plural form knives, um, but singular it would be knife.

That's right. And sometimes there are foods that are very, very hard to cut. For example, steak is very hard to cut because it's it's a tough meat. And so in that case, we use a steak knife to cut it.

Okay, so we have a a knife or a steak knife. Steak knife more specifically is used to cut meats.

All right, so these are three kinds or actually four kinds of silverware. Of course, there are other kinds, but those are the most important. After that though, we have something that's important for making your food taste better. So what if I want to add salt or pepper? What are those things called?

Those are called uh salt and pepper shakers. We saw them in the dialogue that we need to put out the pepper and salt shakers. So the little thing where you keep the salt is called a shaker.

That's right, because the action, the verb is to shake. That means moving your hand up and down so some salt will fall out onto your food.

Exactly. So usually it's only salt and pepper that we keep in these things, in in these little shakers. But uh apart from salt and pepper shakers and uh all the silverware we're putting out, we're also putting out some saucers because we're going to have coffee later on.

Oh, say, okay. So this normally goes together with cups. Cups and saucers, but everyone knows what a cup is. What is a saucer?

So a saucer is this little plate that you put under the cup when you're having coffee. So usually that's where you keep your spoon or maybe the little bag of tea.

Okay, so a saucer is important because it also helps in case you spill some coffee or tea, so that the the the coffee or tea doesn't go on the ground, it goes on the plate.

Exactly. So that little plate is called a saucer. Now, uh, where do we keep all the plates, all the silverware? We usually keep them in a cupboard.

Okay, so you might want to say cupboard because it's cup, C U P, B O A R D, that's not right. The word is pronounced cupboard.

Okay, so even though it may seem like you should pronounce cup board, the correct pronunciation is cupboard.

Cupboard. Cupboard. And a cupboard, like you said, is usually in the dining room or the kitchen because it houses it keeps all of our plates and bowls and sometimes our silverware.

That's right. Okay. So actually in the cupboard we also have some other things, uh dishes, specifically we have a gravy boat in there.

Okay, so I'm not even sure why they call it a boat, but a gravy boat is basically a special dish. It's like a it's like a tall bowl with a spout, so you can pour it. Um that keeps gravy. So gravy is like a liquid or a sauce that goes on top of meat or potatoes.

I guess it kind of looks like a boat. Just imagine a a boat, but inside it's empty, so then that's where you put the gravy in. You can pour it. You can pour it.

All right, and so we can find that, we can also find serving dishes, which are basically big plates or bowls that we use when we're having dinner at the dinner table to keep, for example, a turkey or a roast.

Mhm. And uh specifically we were also looking for wine glasses.

Well, maybe we weren't looking for them, but they found us because uh the person getting stuff out of the cupboard dropped some wine glasses. These are very, very easy to break. Wine glasses are basically just glasses uh that maybe are tall and you drink wine out of them.

That's right. So they're a specific type of glass usually used to to drink wine. So uh wine glasses. I guess uh a normal glass that you use to drink maybe juice or water is just called a glass.

Right, you wouldn't say wine glass. Only when you're drinking wine. Mhm.

Okay. So we've taken a look at a lot of vocab here, a lot of tools that we use at the dinner table when we're having dinner. So let's listen to the dialogue again and review.

Honey, can you set the table?

Um, sure. What are we having for dinner? Do I need to put anything out in particular?

Well, make sure to put out the pepper and salt shakers. I don't know if your brother is coming tonight. So set an extra placemat just in case.

Okay. Should I use the fancy silverware?

Yeah, go ahead. Forks, spoons, and knives. I roasted some meat, so be sure to put out some steak knives as well.

I'll also set some cups and saucers for some coffee after dinner.

Honey, have you seen our soup bowls?

All right, we're back. So now we have four key phrases that we've prepared for you on fluency builder.

Fluency builder.

Okay, so this first phrase is very important, especially as a child, your mother or father might ask you to do this. The the phrase is to set the table.

Okay, so that's a a phrasal verb to set the table. And what does it mean if you're asked to set the table?

It means you will put down the plates and the silverware and the bowls so that everything is prepared for dinner.

Okay. So this is actually what we were doing and a complimentary phrasal verb to this. When you're setting the table, as you said, you are putting down or putting out the different uh spoons, knives, dishes, all that stuff.

Right. So the verb to the verbal phrase to put out means to place down or to um to make sure that you get something out on the table. In this case, my mother would usually ask me to put out extra glasses for water, okay, or don't forget to put out the wine glasses in case we're drinking wine. It just means to place down.

Exactly. So, just remember that it's uh we use it because all these things they're inside the cupboard. So you have to take them out, so you have to put them out on the table.

All right, and uh sometimes we may have a guest or we may need an extra chair or an extra seat because we we're having company and the person in the dialogue said uh to set an extra placemat just in case.

Okay, so placemat is basically a piece of plastic or maybe fabric that you put in front of a person when they're at the table. So it's on the table and it's something that protects the table. So it's small, everyone has one and the bowl and the silverware will go on top of that placemat. But it also indicates that that is where someone will sit. Okay, so to put out or to set out an extra placemat means to prepare an extra place for someone else who will be coming. So if you have a guest, for example, you'll set out an extra placemat for him or for her.

Okay, so we can say set an extra placemat because this is by this we are we're referring that somebody is going to sit down at the table, or you can just simply say set an extra place for someone.

That's right. Set an extra place. Your older brother is coming home from college tonight.

Okay. So we can set an extra place for him at the table and well, in this case we didn't know if the brother was really coming or not, so she said just in case.

This is a great phrase, one that you'll hear all the time. Uh it means I'm not sure what the result will be or what the outcome will be, but in case something happens or just in case we should do this. So for example, Marco, I think it's going to rain today. You should bring an umbrella just in case.

Okay, so this is a way of saying, uh you're preventing something, you're prepared. Maybe if it does rain, you'll have an umbrella, just in case, bring your umbrella.

Okay, so a lot of great phrases there. A lot of vocab. So why don't we listen to the dialogue for the last time?

Honey, can you set the table?

Um, sure. What are we having for dinner? Do I need to put anything out in particular?

Well, make sure to put out the pepper and salt shakers. I don't know if your brother is coming tonight. So set an extra placemat just in case.

Okay. Should I use the fancy silverware?

Yeah, go ahead. Forks, spoons, and knives. I roasted some meat, so be sure to put out some steak knives as well.

I'll also set some cups and saucers for some coffee after dinner.

Honey, have you seen our soup bowls?

All right, we're back. So talking about dinner and silverware, there are also a couple of other names that we didn't mention. For example, many people refer to ceramic plates as china.

Yeah, these are usually the the fancy kinds of plates and dishes that you have in your house. Uh obviously if you have um just kind of the cheap ceramics that you can throw away um or even paper, paper plates, those aren't very important, but at a wedding or in a special occasion, a person or family might receive chinaware, china. And that is very nice, very pretty porcelain plates or or um just lacquerware.

Okay, so uh you can call it chinaware, which is basically plates that are either very fine ceramic or porcelain as you said.

That's right. Or what was the other word that you said before? Lacquerware. Lacquerware is a certain kind of uh plate or ceramic that has a kind of sheen to it. It's very it's got a special kind of basically paint job.

Oh, okay. Um yeah, because it's always been kind of uh strange the fact that a name like China would also now be related to plates, but apparently I guess because uh Chinese porcelain is renowned as being such high quality, I guess this is why uh now we just have a word for it called china or chinaware.

I think it actually has to do with the fact that the um Chinese in the old days sent sold, well, most of the British bought their porcelain from China. And so it was very, very in vogue, very popular. And it was basically the only thing that the um that the British wanted, they just wanted all of this china. And uh it became a part of the vocabulary then.

Yeah, it it's really strange though that you would that you would call something China. It's like uh I don't know any other country that you call something, you know, like French. This is a French or Frenchware. I don't know. I I can't think of any.

Limoge is a name of a city in France and it's a certain kind of ceramics.

Oh, there you go. All right, so uh an interesting topic, uh there are many other tools that we didn't mention like salad fork and uh and uh ice cream spoon. I don't know, there's so many. Sometimes if you go to a fancy dinner, you will have maybe three spoons, three knives, three forks, and you don't know what to do with it.

Start on the outside and go in. That's my one recommendation.

Exactly. So we're really curious to know what you have to say. Come to our website Englishpod.com. If you have any questions, you can leave them there or if you also want to suggest a topic for a lesson or anything you want, just let us know.

All right, we'll see you then.

All right, bye.

The English part audio review.

Listen to the meaning, then say the vocabulary word.

Prepare the table so as to sit down and eat.

To set the table.

Anything specific.

Anything in particular.

Eating utensils, fork, spoon, knife.

Silverware.

To bake uncovered, especially in an oven.

To roast.

A dish used for serving food.

Serving dish.

Let's try that faster.

Anything specific.

Anything in particular.

Eating utensils, fork, spoon, knife.

Silverware.

Prepare the table so as to sit down and eat.

To set the table.

To bake uncovered, especially in an oven.

To roast.

A dish used for serving food.

Serving dish.

Now say the word and hear it in a sentence.

To set the table.

Everyone knows that the proper way to set a table is to turn the knife towards the dish and not away from it.

To set the table.

Kids, supper is almost ready, so please set the table and call your dad.

To set the table.

I think I will set the table with our crystal glasses for our guests tonight.

Anything in particular.

I'm not looking for anything in particular, just browsing.

Anything in particular.

Did you want anything in particular for your birthday?

Anything in particular.

Is there anything in particular I can do to help you clean up?

Silverware.

She brought out her good silverware for the dinner party.

Silverware.

The only drawback of having silverware made of real silver is that it tarnishes easily.

Silverware.

He polished the silverware before every use.

To roast.

He roasted the beef until it was tender.

To roast.

She tossed some vegetables in a pan, then put them in the oven to roast.

To roast.

The turkey took most of the day to roast, but it was well worth the wait.

Serving dish.

The guests admired their creative arrangement of cheese and crackers on the serving dish.

Serving dish.

Can you put this stir-fry into a serving dish and then place it on the table for me?

Serving dish.

My aunt and uncle gave me a beautiful clay serving dish as a wedding gift.

The English part audio review.