Cultural English 58 - Table manners in the U.S.; Cities: Washington, D.C.; Q&A

Complete Transcript

You’re listening to ESL Podcast’s English Café number 58.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast’s English Café episode 58. I’m your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.

On today’s Café, we’re going to talk about table manners in the United States – how people eat their food. We’re also going to talk about the capital of the U.S., Washington, D.C., and as always, we’ll answer a few of your questions. Let’s get started.

Our first topic today is table manners in the United States. “Manners” (manners) are the way that you behave, the way that you act. If we say that someone “has good manners,” we mean they’re polite – they do things according to the accepted rules of behavior. “Table manners” refers to how you are supposed to act when you are sitting at a table eating your dinner or your meal.

I thought that I would go through a list that I found on the Internet about American table manners and talk a little bit about these customs we have. Many of them – maybe most of them – are the same in other countries, but some of them perhaps are different. So, if you are going to be having a meal with an American family, here are some things you can expect.

The first thing is that many American families are religious. Because of this, they often say a prayer before they start their meal. The prayer is usually called “grace” (grace), so we say that people “say grace.” “To say grace” means to say a prayer, usually thanking God for the food that you are about to eat. This is a common custom in many families, sometimes even when they eat in public at a restaurant. But more often we say grace at home, for a family meal. That’s a common custom in many families.

There are some other customs you can expect at an American dinner table, like not putting your elbows on the table. It’s considered rude to put your elbows on the table. Of course, some people still do it. I would say it’s fairly common, but to be more polite, you don’t put your elbows on the table. You can, however, put your forearms on the table. Your “forearm” (forearm) is the part of your arm between your hand and your elbow. So, no elbows on the table!

When we eat, we usually put a napkin on our lap. A “napkin” (napkin) is a piece of towel or a piece of cloth that you use to wipe your mouth, to clean your mouth and face if there is food on them. A napkin is also something you put on your lap. Your “lap” (lap) is the top of your legs when you are sitting. At Christmastime, for example, it’s a common custom for children to go see Santa Claus and to sit on his lap – they sit on the top of his legs as he is sitting down.

Americans also think it is impolite to slurp your food. For example, if you are drinking a cup of coffee or you are eating soup, it’s not considered polite to slurp it. “To slurp” (slurp) is easiest to define by doing it for you so you can hear what it sounds like: (slurping sound). That’s me slurping my coffee. So that is slurping, and it’s considered rude to do that – to make noise when you are eating your soup or drinking something out of a cup or glass.

It is, however, sometimes acceptable to slurp your noodles when you are eating. This is true for Asian and Italian food. When eating spaghetti, people will often slurp up the rest of the noodle that doesn’t go into their mouth; they want to get it in their mouth. This custom may be different in other countries, but it’s okay to do that here – just try not to make too much noise.

It is also common that if you are sitting at a table or in a restaurant with friends, you wait until everyone has their food before you start eating. So, if you’re in a restaurant and the waiter brings food to two people and two other people don’t have their food yet, the two people who do have food wait until the other two people get their food. Sometimes you will say to someone who already has his food, “Don’t wait for me – go ahead and eat,” especially if it’s something hot. But the custom is to wait until everyone has gotten their food served (or from the table, if they are eating at home) before eating.

It’s considered rude to burp at the dinner table. To burp is again one of those things that’s easiest to illustrate by hearing it. The verb is “burp” (burp): (burp sound). That’s a very small burp. That’s considered very rude, impolite. If you do have to burp – and sometimes you do – you should cover your mouth before you burp and say “Excuse me” afterward. I’m sure you didn’t think you would hear me burping when you started listening to today’s podcast!

Also, it is polite at the dinner table to keep your mouth closed when you are eating – to not chew with your mouth open. “To chew” (chew) means to put something between your teeth and move your teeth up and down, usually to break it down into smaller pieces so you can swallow it. So, it’s considered impolite to chew with your mouth open. You want to keep your mouth closed.

In the U.S., usually you eat with a fork, a spoon, and a knife – or, if you’re in an Asian restaurant or in an Asian home, with chopsticks. But there are also some other foods that you can eat with your hands. Pizza is something you can pick up and eat. You can eat fried chicken – chicken with some flour on it that is put into very hot oil and cooked – with your hands. You can also eat corn on the cob with your hands. “Corn on the cob” (cob) is corn that is still on its stalk, and it’s a very popular food in the summertime. And foods like bread or whole pieces of fruit – apples and bananas, for example – you can also eat with your hands.

Finally, if you are at someone’s house, at the end of the meal you always want to thank the person who cooked the meal. The nicest thing to say would be, “Thank you for the wonderful meal. It was delicious.” “Delicious” (delicious) means it tasted very good. But if you come to my house, you would say, “Thank you for the horrible meal. It was really bad.” That would be, of course, the truth. I don’t cook very well.

Our second topic today is the city of Washington, D.C. We often talk about different states and cities in the United States and give some basic information about them, and today we’re going to talk about the capital of the United States: Washington, D.C.

The first thing to know about Washington, D.C., is what the “D” and “C” stand for. They stand for, or mean, the “District of Columbia.” The word “Columbia” comes from the name of the person who is thought to have come first from Europe to the new continent of America, Christopher Columbus. So, Columbia is a name that comes from Christopher Columbus. So, the District of Columbia is what D.C. stands for. This name was given to the capital city by the Constitution of the United States.

Washington, D.C., was named after George Washington, the first president of the United States. Washington, D.C., is not in any state. Instead, it’s what we call a “federal district” or “national district.” Some other countries also have their capitals separate from the provinces or states – they are their own separate legal units, and that is the case with Washington, D.C.

It’s a little confusing because we also have a state called Washington. Washington State is located on the border of Canada in the northwestern part of our country. So, when people are talking about Washington, they might be referring to either Washington, D.C. or Washington State. Usually you can tell from the context of the conversation whether they mean Washington State – the state of Washington – or Washington, D.C. Sometimes we just call Washington, D.C., “D.C.,” so you might hear both of those terms.

Washington, D.C., is its own city, and technically it is run by the Congress of the United States. The federal Congress – the House of Representatives and the Senate – has authority in the District of Columbia. However, in the early 1970s, Congress decided to give Washington, D.C., its own leader – its own mayor. A “mayor” (mayor) is the leader of a city. Today, Washington, D.C., has both a group of elected representatives and a mayor.

However, the people who live in Washington, D.C. – there are about 500,000 people there now – do not get to send a representative to Congress. They do not have a senator who votes for them. They have a representative, but that representative cannot vote in Congress. They can, however, vote for the president of the United States. Beginning in 1961, after the Constitution was changed, there is now a law that says that you can vote for the president if you live in Washington, D.C., but you do not have a representative.

So, that is the legal basis of Washington, D.C. For many people, the most interesting things about Washington, D.C., are the famous buildings that are located there. There is the Capitol Building, which is where the Congress is; the White House, which is where the president lives; and the headquarters, or home, of the Supreme Court, which is the top legal authority in terms of our judicial system. “Judicial” (judicial) refers to the courts, the law courts. So, all of the three parts of the U.S. national government are located in Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., is also known for two other types of buildings: memorials and museums. A “memorial” (memorial) is usually a statue or a small building that is built to remember someone. The most famous memorial in Washington, D.C., is the Washington Monument. It’s a tall tower that is a monument to George Washington, to remember George Washington. It doesn’t look like him, however.

We have a famous memorial, or monument, for President Lincoln, our president during the U.S. Civil War in the nineteenth century, as well as one for our third president, Thomas Jefferson. There are also memorials to those people who have died in wars. The most famous of these is the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. A “veteran” (veteran) is someone who has fought in a war. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is very well-known.

The other types of buildings that are famous in Washington, D.C., are the museums. As we talked about before on an earlier Café, we have a set of national museums called the Smithsonian Museums. The Smithsonian Museums are a collection of different museums, each focused on a different subject, such as art, history, air and space, American Indians, and so forth. These museums are something that most people will want to visit when they go to Washington.

That’s a little bit about our nation’s capital, Washington, D.C. Now let’s answer some of the questions you have sent to us.

Our first question comes from Narong (Narong) in Thailand. Narong wants to know the meaning of the expression “easygoing.” When we say that someone is "easygoing” (easygoing) – all one word – what do we mean? We mean that the person is relaxed, unexcited, calm. Someone who doesn’t get angry or upset very easily, someone who is always calm and relaxed – we’d say that person is “easygoing.”

Another expression Narong wants to know about is “down-to-earth.” “Down- (down) to earth.” When we describe someone as down-to-earth, we mean that they are humble – they do not think they are themselves very important. They are easy to talk to. The opposite of someone who is down-to-earth would be someone who is “full of himself” or “full of herself.” “To be full (full) of yourself” means to think you are better than everyone else, more important than everyone else – you think you are great. That would be the opposite of being humble or down-to-earth.

Fabio (Fabio) in Italy has a question about the expression “to put someone in harm’s way.” “To put,” or to place, someone “in harm’s (harm’s) way” means to put someone in danger, to put someone in a situation where they could get hurt – a dangerous situation.

Fabio also wants to know the meaning of the expression “to take a shot at” someone. “To take a shot (shot) at” someone usually means to try to convince someone, to try to get someone to agree with you, or to try to talk to someone about something you may be having a problem with. I might say, for example, “I talked to my brother, but he doesn’t want to come to the party.” And then you might say, “Well, let me take a shot at him” – let me try to convince him.

However, there is another common meaning of this expression, and that is to hit someone, to punch someone. If someone says he’s going to take a shot at you in a bar, that doesn’t mean he wants to convince you of something; it means he’s going to hit you!

So there are two meanings of this expression, “to take a shot at.” The first meaning I gave is probably the more common one, in the sense of convincing or attempting to do something. You might say, for example, “Let me take a shot at writing this story.” There, the expression means to attempt or to try. “I’m going to take a shot at it” means “I’m going to try it; I’m going to attempt it.”

Finally, Saeed (Saeed) from the state of Texas in the U.S. wants to know the meaning of the noun “inquiry” (inquiry). An “inquiry” is an investigation. The word comes from the verb “to inquire” (inquire), which means to ask – to ask about something, to investigate something. “I’m going to inquire where my friend is” – I’m going to ask about where my friend is.

The noun “inquiry” is usually a formal investigation by the government, or by some organization or company, into a particular problem or event. For example, when President John F. Kennedy was killed in 1963, there was a formal inquiry into who really killed him.

If you would like to inquire about the meaning of some words or expressions, email us. Our email address is eslpod@eslpod.com.

From Los Angeles, California, I’m Jeff McQuillan. Thanks for listening. We’ll see you again next time right here on the English Café.

Glossary

to say grace – to say a prayer before eating a meal

* At dinner every night, my mother says grace before we begin eating.

forearm – the part of the arm that is between the hand and the elbow

* He has been lifting weights for several months and now, even his forearms look strong and muscular.

napkin – a square piece of paper or cloth used for wiping hands and lips, and for keeping clothes clean during a meal

* When I dropped my napkin on the floor, the waiter picked it up for me right away.

lap – the top part of the legs between the hips and knee when one sits down

* Every time the kids visit their grandfather, they want to sit on his lap while he reads them a story.

to slurp – to make a loud sucking sound when drinking or eating

* Leann’s mother said to her, “If you don’t stop slurping your soup, you won’t get dessert tonight.”

to burp – to belch; a loud sound that comes out of one’s mouth when air is released from the stomach

* There was a very embarrassing moment during the concert when he opened his mouth to sing, but ended up burping into the microphone.

to chew – to take food between the teeth and for the teeth to go up and down on it to make the food smaller before swallowing

* She was in such a hurry she barely had time to chew her food!

delicious – good tasting; tastes good

* The cookies that Dr. McQuillan made for the entire office were delicious!

mayor – the official elected leader of a city

* Many people thought that the mayor should be doing more to get the roads fixed after the big storm.

judicial – related to courts or judges

* The president and the judicial branch of the government often disagree about the laws of the nation.

veteran – a person who has been in the military, usually someone who has fought in a war

* I didn’t know you were a veteran. Which war did you fight in?

easygoing – relaxed; tolerant; someone who does not get angry easily; someone who does not have strong negative opinions about most things

* Georgina is really easygoing so I don’t think she’ll mind if you use her car tonight.

down to earth – sensible; straightforward; someone who does not think that he or she is better than others

* Do you think that people from the Midwest are more down to earth than people from L.A.?

to put (someone) in harm’s way – to put someone in a dangerous situation where they may get hurt

* You’ll have to come up with a better plan because I refuse to put my workers in harm’s way just to make the company more money.

to take a shot at (someone) – to try to convince or persuade someone to do something; to hit someone physically

* My sister wasn’t able to convince my father to see the doctor, but I’m going to take a shot at him this weekend to try to change his mind.

inquiry – investigation; asking for information, usually done officially by the government or another organization

* I wonder if there will be an official inquiry into how this organization lost all of its money.

What Insiders Know

Pig Latin

Pig Latin is language game played mainly by children in the U.S. Kids usually use Pig Latin for fun and also to talk to each other in front of adults so that the adults won’t understand what they are saying. Adults, too, can sometimes use it to talk about private or sensitive topics they don’t want very young children to understand.

The rules for changing standard English into Pig Latin are very simple.

For words that begin with consonants, move all of the first consonant sounds to the end of the word and add “ay.”

Here are a few examples:

- ball → all-bay

- button → utton-bay

- star → ar-stay

- three → ee-thray

For words that begin with vowel sounds (including silent consonant sounds), add the syllable “ay” to the end of the word.

- eagle → eagle-ay

- honest → honest-ay (because the h is silent)

A few Pig Latin words have become accepted and used in standard American English. Two of these words are “ixnay” and “amscray.” “Ixnay” comes from the word “nix,” a verb meaning to cancel or to put an end to something. If you and your co-worker are planning on leaving work early but your boss gives you extra work, you may say to your co-worker, “Ixnay on the plans. I have to stay late to work.” Another Pig Latin word you may hear is “amscray.” “Amscray” comes from the word “scram,” which is an informal word that means to go away or to leave somewhere quickly. If some neighborhood children are making trouble and loud noises outside your window late at night, you may say, “You kids better amscray before I come out there!”