介绍:
Xiaohua: Hello and welcome to Roundtable’s Word of the Week. This week we’re talking about one of my favorite topics: ordering food at a restaurant.
Mark: I think we all like this topic, Xiaohua.
Xiaohua: I think so. 有的时候尽管我们掌握了英语，但在西方国家旅行的时候还是会遇到些困难。Ordering food in restaurants in the west and in China are not exactly the same, and there’re some things people take for granted.
Mark: Yes. It’s very easy to not do any research before you go to a different country, and you can create entirely the wrong impression. For example, in some cultures, “please” and “thank you” are the most important words in the language. Those words get things done and open doors. And if you don’t use them in the appropriate setting, like in a restaurant, you will be thought of as rude and arrogant, and you might not get very good service as a result. So it’s worth remembering to always be polite.
Xiaohua: 在餐馆点菜的时候，文明礼貌用语是非常重要的，所以“你好”、“请”、和“谢谢”这样的词都是必不可少的。Also I notice something that some of my Chinese friends have done before. When they’re ordering something, they tend to say “I want something…”, because that’s an exact translation of what they would have said in Chinese.
Mark: Yeah. If you said that in English in a restaurant, it would be considered to be quite rude. There’s a way of saying that you want something, which is: “I would like…” It’s much more polite. I think actually it’s very similar in Chinese. It’s the difference between saying “我要” I want, and “我想要”, which is more polite, isn’t it?
Xiaohua: Yes!
Mark: Don’t just say “I want”. It’s better to say “I would like”, then whatever it is you want, “please” at the end. And then you’ll get very good service and get exactly what you want.
Xiaohua: Very important to say “please”. Also I think you can say “Can I get something please”, or “May I have something please”, right?
Mark: Yeah. “May I”, that’s very polite and very good English. “Can I get”, that’s an American phrase. It annoys me so much Xiaohua. Cause you know, if I was working in a coffee shop, for example, behind the counter serving coffee, and someone came in and said “Can I get a latte”, I’d say, “No, that’s my job. I’ll get it for you.”
Xiaohua: I see!
Mark: I mean it just annoys me, cause the grammar, it’s just all wrong! But anyway, yes it’s a very common phrase in American English, and so yes, you should use that if you’re in America or speaking to Americans. They’ll get that one.
Xiaohua: I see. 所以在这上面还有文化差异呢。英国人可能会说“I would like something”或“May I have something”，但如果说“Can I get a cup of coffee, please”，可能会让某些英国人感到不爽。
Mark: Yes, it’s just a small thing.
Xiaohua: You grammatically-correct British people.
Mark: There’re some difference between British and American in restaurants. They’re not that great. We all understand each other. Like for example in American English, “打包”or “带走”which is what you say in China for saying to take away. In British English, we say “take away”. In American English they say “take out”. It has the same meaning, though.
Xiaohua: Also you can say “to go”, but is it American English or British English?
Mark: Yes. That’s American English. That’s kind of spread to British English, though. OK. And there’re some things which are the same, which is like, if you’re ordering a steak for example, how you want it cooked is very important in a western restaurant, cause there’s a lot of choice. You could have it rare, this means that you’ll see blood on that steak, it’ll be red and hardly cooked at all: there’s medium-rare, that’s a bit better cooked; and then maybe well-done, which is how I used to like it before I stopped eating meat. I used to like my steak well-done, nice and cooked and brown, perhaps even a little crispy done under the grill.
Xiaohua: I see. 点牛排的时候牛排几分熟也有讲究。从生到熟应该是分为rare, medium rare, medium, well-done。
Mark: Yes, those are the basic forms.
Xiaohua: And do you know Mark, I would always ask for rare.
Mark: Really? You like that, do you?
Xiaohua: Yes.
Mark: OK, interesting. The other thing is, when it comes to paying, you might be given choices in western restaurants, of credit, debit, or cash. That means credit card, debit card, or cash. The reason they specify the different credit or debit cards is there’s usually a 2% fee, which the restaurant has to pay if you use a credit card, whereas debit card does not have that fee and comes straight out of your bank account. This means that if you offer to pay by debit card, in theory you should be able to get a 2% discount, cause the restaurant is saving 2%. In practice, it might not work. And don’t do it on a first date, or you’ll be seen as cheap.
Xiaohua: Alright. We’re not going into that territory, Mark, not today.
Mark: No.
Xiaohua: But that’s all we have for this week’s Roundtable Word of the Week.
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