零距離美語會話[文化風俗差異]Lesson 2: We'll just get a dogg

Two We’ll just get a doggie bag. 我們就將剩菜打包。

1 Introduction
A It is impolite to begin a meal until everyone is seated. It is also considered impolite to chew food with an open mouth, or to talk while chewing anything.
在他人落座之前就開始就餐是很不禮貌的。張大嘴巴咀嚼食物，或者邊咀嚼邊說話，也被認爲是不禮貌的。
B Americans often order the food they like to eat, separately from the group. If a person has had enough or is full，it is considered impolite to insist on that person having more to eat or drink.
美國人聚在一塊時，經常是各自點他們喜歡吃的食物。如果有人吃完了或吃飽了，強烈要求她/他再多吃一點或者再多喝一點被認爲是沒有禮貌的。

2 Sample Sentences
1. I’d rather not, really, I’m not used to strong drinks.
我還是不了，真的，我不習慣喝烈酒。
2. Shall we have a snack at this coffee shop?
我們可以去咖啡館吃點小吃嗎？
3. We could reserve a window table now.
我們可以現在預定一個靠窗戶的桌子。
4. Would you please pass the toothpicks?
你能把牙籤遞給我嗎？
5. Let’s toast the arrival of the new baby.
我們爲新生兒乾杯吧。
6. Do you prefer your steak rare, medium or well done?
你比較喜歡生的、中等熟度的，還是完全熟的牛排？
7. Don’t worry about the mess; I will clean it up after the party.
不要擔心這些髒東西，聚會後我會打掃的。
8. Shall we chat a while over a glass of wine before dinner?
我們晚餐前喝杯酒閒談一陣，好嗎？
9. Would you accept my invitation to a stag party?
你會接受我的邀請來參加男人聚會嗎？
10. Can you use chopsticks or would you rather have a knife and fork?
你能用筷子，還是寧願用刀叉？

3 Conversations
1. Lisa is a Chinese exchange student who is visiting her friend in Chicago.
Tony: Want to send out for some Chinese?
Lisa: Some what?
Tony: Some Chinese food. I'm hungry, and there's a take-out restaurant near here. We can have them deliver and then watch the news on TV while we eat.
Lisa: No, I'd rather go out. The Chinese food here is rather different from what I had at home. Maybe we can try some other food today… What about that all-you-can-eat place we passed the other day, the one over in the shopping center?
Tony: Okay. I could go for that. It's called Al's Steakhouse. They also have great fried fish, and I love their salad bar. You can go back to refill1 your plate as often as you like.
Lisa: Is that the place that serves such large portions2 of meat?
Tony: Yes, their steaks are enormous3. Sometimes I can't finish what I've ordered.
Lisa: What if that happens to me? I hate to let food go to waste.
Tony: Don't worry. We'll just get a doggie bag4.

Additional Information：
Americans hate to waste food. And they can always take their leftovers home without being embarrassed. That’s something we both have in common.
美國人不喜歡浪費食物。他們可能經常把剩飯剩菜帶回家，不必感到尷尬。這點是我們所共有的。

【譯文】
——想送一些中國的？
——一些什麼？
——一些中國餐。我餓了，這附近有一家外賣餐館。我們可以叫他們送過來，然後我們一邊吃一邊看電視裏的新聞。
——不，我寧願出外吃。這裏的中國餐與我在家吃過的很不同。也許今天我們可以試一下其它的菜……不久前一天我們經過的小吃一條街怎麼樣，就是購物中心裏面的那一家？
——好的。我有興趣去試試。那個地方叫阿爾的牛排館。他們還有很好吃的油炸魚，而且我還喜歡他們的沙拉巴。你想吃多少就可以回去夾滿你的盤子。
——是那個供應大分量肉的地方嗎？
——是啊，他們的牛排很多肉。有時候我都吃不完我點的。
——如果我也這樣那怎麼辦？我很不喜歡浪費食物。
——不要發愁。我們就將剩菜打包。

2. Chan Lee, a visiting professor at Yale, is in Ella Lewis's apartment. He arrived from China a month ago.
Chan: Thanks for offering to give me a lift. I'm looking forward to this party, but I didn't want to go alone.
Ella: Don't mention it. It's my pleasure. Have you been to one of these large, sit-down dinner parties since you got to New Haven?
Chan: No, this is my first. Last week I went to a cookout5 for new professors at Dean6 Barksdale's home. I took a taxi because I didn't want to be late. But I was the first one there.
Ella: I'll bet you were a little embarrassed.
Chan: You're right. The invitation said "two to seven". I was there at two o'clock, but most people didn't arrive until three or four. They didn't start cooking until five o’clock.
Ella: Cookouts often start slowly. A two o'clock start means you arrive any time after two.
Chan: Thanks for telling me this.
Ella: I was late getting back from the mall, but I'm hurrying.
Chan: Why are you in such a hurry? They said, "Dinner at eight," and it's only seven-fifteen. I don't want to be the first one there again.
Ella: Don't worry. We won't be the first.

Helpful Information：
For a dinner date, it’s usually a good idea to be about five minutes early.
For a cookout at 2:00 o’clock, arriving between 2:00 and 2:30 is considered proper.
For a business appointment, it is considered proper to be five minutes early, but never late.
對於一個晚餐宴會，早到五分鐘左右通常是很好的。
對於一個兩點鐘的戶外野炊，在兩點至兩點半到是很合適的。
對於一個商務約會，提早五分鐘到是很合適的，但一定不要遲到。

【譯文】
——謝謝你的好意送我一程。我盼着參加這個晚會，但是我不想一個人去。
——不用謝。是我的榮幸。自從你來紐黑文市，你有沒有去過這種大型的、坐下來吃飯的聚會？
——沒有，這是第一次。上週我去巴克斯德爾主任家參加了一個爲新來的教授在戶外搞的一個野餐聚會。爲了不遲到，我叫了一輛的士。我卻是第一個到那裏的。
——我猜你有點尷尬。
——你說得對。邀請函上說“兩點到七點”。我兩點鐘到那裏，但是大部分人直到三、四點纔來。他們到五點鐘纔開始做飯菜。
——戶外野炊經常開始得很慢。兩點鐘開始意思是說兩點鐘以後的任何時間你都可以到。
——謝謝你告訴我這些。
——我從購物中心回來晚了，但是我在加快動作。
——你爲什麼這麼急？他們說，“八點吃飯”，現在才七點十五。我不想又是第一個到那裏。
——不要擔心。我們不會是第一個的。

3. Wong is discussing meals with Marsha and David Gransee. She has been in the United States for only two days.
Wong: I want you to know how much I appreciate these terrific meals you've been cooking. Do you guys always eat this well?
David: Not really. During the week, we're both busy with our jobs, so there isn't much time to cook anything fancy.
Marsha: We both enjoy cooking and experimenting7, so we usually try to fix something special on Sundays.
Wong: This morning's breakfast was great: scrambled eggs8, bacon9, toast10, and orange juice! You surely don't eat that kind of breakfast every day.
Marsha: You're right! We don't. During the week, we usually have cold cereal and maybe a piece of fruit. Neither of us has the time to cook breakfast. Monday through Friday, it's “Every man for himself.” Don’t worry, though. You’ll never go to bed hungry.
David: That's true. And dinners are different, anyway. Some nights Marsha will fix a casserole11 or a pasta12 dish. Other nights, I like to throw fish or hamburgers onto the grill13. And fix a green salad14.
Wong: So, you cook every night?
Marsha: Well, not every night. Some nights we have leftovers15, or maybe we'll just send out for a pizza. We even enjoy going out to a restaurant once in a while16.
【譯文】
——我真的很感激你們做這麼豐盛的飯菜。你們都經常吃這麼好嗎？
——並不是這樣。平時我們都忙於工作，所以沒有多少時間烹飪出花樣。
——我們都喜歡做飯、嘗試，所以星期天我們都通常試着做些特別的菜。
——今天的早餐真是美味：炒蛋、煙肉、烤麪包，還有橙汁！你們肯定不是每天都吃這樣的早餐。
——你說得對！我們沒有。一週之內，我們通常吃些冷麥片，大概一片水果。我們都沒有時間做早餐。星期一到星期五，都是“個顧個地找些東西吃。” 但不要擔心。你都不會餓着睡覺的。
——那倒是真的。不管怎麼樣，晚餐就不同。一些晚上馬莎會做個砂鍋或者通心粉。其它幾個晚上，我喜歡把魚或者漢堡牛排扔到烤架上，還弄個蔬菜沙拉。
——那麼，你每天晚上都做飯嗎？
——不是每個晚上。一些晚上我們吃剩菜，或許我們就乾脆出去吃比薩餅。有時我們甚至喜歡出去到餐館吃。

4. At a Thanksgiving dinner in Juneau [朱諾(美國阿拉斯加州之首府)]. There are fourteen guests at the Wrights' dinner table.
Tina: There's so much food on the table, I don't know where to begin.
Rachel: Pass your plate down to Chuck, Tina. He'll put meat on it. He always carves the turkey.
Chuck: White meat or dark, Tina?
Tina: Dark, please. I like the drumsticks.
Chuck: (To his wife) Why don't you start passing the potatoes, honey?
Rachel: You know, Tina, it's okay to pick up the leg with your fingers. You don't have to cut it from the bone. Around here, we think eating should be easy and fun.
Chuck: And try a little bit of everything. Then you can go back for seconds, after you see which dishes you like best.
Tina: (At the end of the meal) I feel so full; I don't think I could eat another bite. Thank you, Chuck and Rachel, for inviting me to share this delicious meal with you and all your friends.
(Chuck belches loudly.)
Rachel: Chuck!

Additional Information：
It’s very important to express your gratitude to the people who have cooked for you, or have invited you to a meal. Americans also find it important and necessary to say “thank you” even to their own mothers. It’s one of the ways to show your appreciation of the people who have given their time to do kind things for you.

向爲你做飯的人或者邀請你吃飯的人表示感謝是很重要的。美國人甚至覺得向他們自己的媽媽說聲“謝謝你”也是非常重要和有必要的。這是對別人犧牲他們自己的時間來幫助你表示感謝的方式之一。

【譯文】
——桌上這麼多菜，我都不知道從哪裏開始。
——把你的盤子遞給查克，蒂娜。他會把肉放在上面。他總是切火雞。
——白色肉還是深色肉，蒂娜？
——請給我深色肉。我喜歡雞腿。
——（對他妻子）親愛的，你爲什麼不開始傳遞土豆呢？
——蒂娜，你知道嗎，用你的手指拿雞腿是沒關係的。你不必從骨頭那裏切。在這裏我們覺得吃應該隨意、有趣。
——而且每一樣都嘗一點。你看你最喜歡哪道菜，你就可以馬上回去拿。
——（進餐最後階段）我覺得很飽，我一口都不能再吃了。查克和雷切爾，謝謝你們邀請我和你以及你們的朋友一起分享這些美味的食物。（查克大聲地打了一下嗝。）
——查克！

4 Words and Expressions
1. refill 再裝滿,再灌滿
2. portion (一)部分,一份
3. enormous 巨大的,龐大的
4. doggie bag 餐廳供客人帶走未吃完食物的袋子
5. cookout 野炊
6. dean 教務長,訓導主任
7. experiment 實驗;試驗
8. scrambled eggs 炒蛋
9. bacon 薰豬肉;鹹豬
10. toast 土司,烤麪包片
11. casserole 砂鍋,烤鍋
12. pasta 麪糰、意大利通心粉
13. grill 烤架
14. green salad 蔬菜色拉
15. leftover 殘餘物,吃剩的飯菜
16. once in a while 有時