Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 559, Ending a Restaurant Meal.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 559.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
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This dialogue is about someone who is in a restaurant and they want to leave the restaurant.
So it will describe common vocabulary and phrases you use when you are done eating and want to leave.
Let's get started.
Can I clear these plates and get them out of your way?
Sure.
We're all done.
Can I get the rest of that in a doggy bag?
No problem.
I'll wrap it up for you.
Is there anything else I can get you?
Did you leave room for dessert?
How about some coffee or tea?
No, I'm stuffed.
Just the check for me, thanks.
Sure.
Coming right up.
Here's your check.
I'll take that when you're ready.
Do you accept personal checks?
No, I'm afraid we don't.
How about credit cards?
Yes, we do accept credit cards.
Here's my Discover card.
Oh, we don't accept that one.
Okay, here's my American Express.
Sorry, but we don't take that one either.
We only accept Visa or MasterCard.
I don't have a Visa or MasterCard.
We also accept cash, of course.
I don't have any cash on me.
Is there an ATM nearby?
There's one about three blocks away, but you'll need to leave something with us so we know you're not running out on the check.
How about my doggy bag?
How about your cell phone or your driver's license?
Okay, here's my cell phone.
I'll be back ASAP.
No rush.
I'll be right here making a few calls to Bora Bora.
The server, the person who works for the restaurant that brings you your food and asks you what you want to eat says to Alvin To clear the plates means to take dirty plates away from the table after people have finished eating.
In American restaurants it's common for the server, the waiter or someone else usually someone we would call the bus boy B-U-S-B-O-Y one word to come and ask you if you are done eating and then take your plates away from you even though you are still sitting at the table.
This isn't done in every country, but it is done very commonly here in the US at both good restaurants, expensive restaurants and cheap ones.
The server asks, can I clear these plates and get them out of your way?
To get something out of one's way means no longer in front of you, no longer blocking or taking up a space.
This expression can have other meanings also.
Take a look at the learning guide for additional explanations.
Elvin says, sure, meaning yes.
We're all done.
We're all finished.
Can I get the rest of that in a doggy bag?
Alvin is asking the server if he can get the rest of his food the food that he didn't finish on his plate put in a small bag or container so he can take it home with him and eat it later.
That bag or container is called a doggy, D-O-G-G-I-E, bag.
Doggy is another word for a dog.
The idea is that you would take it home perhaps, and give it to your dog, but most people actually take it home to eat it themselves.
So we use that expression even if you don't have a dog.
This is a custom that is quite different from many countries.
Many countries do not have the custom of taking the food that you did not finish at a restaurant home with you, but in the United States it's very common, again at both inexpensive and expensive restaurants.
The server says, no problem, I'll wrap it up for you.
To wrap W-R-A-P something up means to put something into a box or to wrap it in plastic to protect it so you can use it later.
We might also say to package something.
So the raider is going to put the food, the extra food that Elvin wants, into a bag and This is a common question at the end of a meal for the waiter to ask.
Did you leave room for dessert? the waiter asks.
To leave room for something means to still have space for something.
In this case, do you have space in your stomach for more food?
It's a common way of waiters asking, did you leave room for dessert?
Of course, the waiter wants you to buy dessert.
He's trying to or she is trying to sell you more food.
How about some coffee or tea?
Elvin says, no, I'm stuffed.
To be stuffed, S-T-U-F-F-E-D, is an informal expression meaning I'm very full.
I've eaten too much, really.
Elvin says, just the check for me, thanks.
Alvin is asking for the waiter to bring the bill, to bring the check.
Check has many other meanings in English.
Once again, you'll find those in the learning guide.
The server says, sure, coming right up.
The expression, especially in a restaurant coming right up means it will be here very soon, in a very short amount of time.
The server comes back and says, here's your check.
I'll take that when you're ready, meaning I'll take your money or your credit card when you are ready to give it back to me.
Elvin says, do you accept personal checks?
Yes.
Here, the word check doesn't mean the bill.
It means a piece of paper that has your name on it and your bank's name on it that you sign and give to someone, just like you would give them money.
So a check represents money that you are giving this person.
The person then takes the check and puts it in his or her own bank, and the two banks will transfer the money over.
However, most restaurants, at least in big cities nowadays, do not accept personal checks.
The service says, no, I'm afraid we don't.
I'm afraid is just a polite way of telling someone something perhaps they won't like.
I'm afraid we don't accept personal checks, the waiter is saying.
Elvin says, how about credit cards?
Credit cards like Visa MasterCard, American Express are small pieces of plastic that you give to someone when you want to buy something.
They then will take the money from the credit card company, and later you have to pay the money back to the credit card company.
At least you're supposed to.
Not everyone does.
The server says, yes, we do accept credit cards.
Alvin says, here's my Discover card.
Discover is another kind of credit card, like Visa and MasterCard, but not a very popular one.
The server says, oh, we don't accept that one.
Alvin says, okay, here's my American Express.
Well, many businesses accept American Express, but not as many as Visa and MasterCard.
So, this is a restaurant that does not accept American Express.
The server says, sorry, but we don't take that one either, meaning we don't accept that one.
You can't use it to pay for your bill.
We only accept Visa and MasterCard.
Alvin says, I don't have a Visa or MasterCard.
Now, Alvin is confused.
The server says, Of course, actual money that you give someone is cash.
Elvin says, I don't have any cash on me, meaning I don't have any cash with me in my wallet.
Is there an ATM nearby?
Is there an ATM close to here?
An ATM is an automated teller machine.
It's a machine that you can get money out of from your bank account any time of the day or night, typically.
The server says there's one about three blocks away.
But you'll need to leave something with us so we know you're not running out on the check, or your check means to leave a restaurant without paying.
You go, you eat, and then you leave and you don't pay for it.
Of course, that's stealing.
You're stealing their food.
We use this expression however, to run out on, perhaps because sometimes people actually get up and run out of the restaurant so that they don't have to pay.
I don't recommend that, by the way.
The server then asks Elvin to leave something with them so that they know he will come back.
Elvin says, how about my doggy bag?
How about the rest of the food that I ate?
Of course, that's not really going to make you come back necessarily.
So the server says, suggesting something else, how about your cell phone or your driver's license?
Someone will definitely come back for their driver's license or cell phone.
Alvin says, okay, here's my cell phone.
He gives it to the waiter, the server.
He says, I'll be back ASAP.
ASAP means as soon as possible, as quickly as you can.
The waiter says, no rush.
No rush means don't hurry.
It's an informal expression.
Take your time.
Take all the time you need.
The server then tries to make a joke.
I'll be right here making a few phone calls to Bora Bora.
Bora Bora is a small French island about halfway between the United States and Australia.
It's in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
Bora Bora is considered a very faraway place.
The joke is that the waiter is going to use his cell phone in order to make these phone calls because presumably the phone call would be expensive.
Although nowadays you can just talk to someone on the internet and it's free, so you probably don't need to spend a lot of money.
But the waiter is using it as a joke.
Bora Bora simply represents a faraway place.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
Can I clear these plates and get them out of your way?
Sure, we're all done.
Can I get the rest of that in a doggy bag?
No problem.
I'll wrap it up for you.
Is there anything else I can get you?
Did you leave room for dessert?
How about some coffee or tea?
No, I'm stuffed.
Just the check for me, thanks.
Sure, coming right up.
Here's your check.
I'll take that when you're ready.
Do you accept personal checks?
No, I'm afraid we don't.
How about credit cards?
Yes, we do accept credit cards.
Here's my Discover card.
Oh, we don't accept that one.
Okay, here's my American Express.
Sorry, we don't take that one either.
We only accept Visa or MasterCard.
I don't have a Visa or MasterCard.
We also accept cash, of course.
I don't have any cash on me.
Is there an ATM nearby?
There's one about three blocks away, but you'll need to leave something with us so we know you're not running out on the check.
How about my doggy bag?
How about your cell phone or your driver's license?
Okay, here's my cell phone.
I'll be back ASAP.
No rush.
I'll be right here making a few calls to Bora Bora.
The person who wrote the script for this episode would never run out on a check.
Dr. Lucy Saye.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thanks for listening.
Come back to listen to us next time, but no rush, on ESL Podcast.
English as a Second Language Podcast is written and produced by Dr Lucy Say, hosted by Dr Jeff McQuillan.
Copyright 2010 by the Center for Educational Development.
