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TYPICAL EXPRESSIONS

Below are some examples of some typical expressions which you might hear or want to say when you go to a pub.

Asking someone to go out for a drink with you:
"Would you like to come out for a beer?" or "Shall we go for a drink after class/after work?"

Asking if you can buy a drink for someone:
"Do you want a drink?" or "What would you like to drink?" (quite formal)
"What are you having?" or "What can I get you?" (less formal)
"Would you like another drink?" (if the person has already finished a drink)

Replying to someone's offer to buy you a drink:
"Can I have the same again, please?" (if the person who is offering knows what you have been drinking)
"A pint of lager, please" or "Could you get me a vodka and orange?" (specifying a particular drink)
"I'm fine, thank you" (this means you don't want another drink)
"I'm fine at the moment, thank you" (this means that you not want another drink until later)

What the barman or barmaid might say to you:
"What can I get you?" or "Ice and lemon?" or "Anything else?"

What you may ask the barman or barmaid:
"Hello. Two pints of lager, a Tetley's Bitter and a packet of cheese and onion crisps, please"

You have to be 18 years old to order a drink in a pub. Some pubs will allow people over 14 years old to go inside if they are with someone who is over 18, but they are not allowed to go to the bar or to have an alcoholic drink (16 and 17 year olds can sometimes order an alcoholic drink with a table-meal). Family pubs welcome people with children and have facilities for them. Avoid using rough language in a family pub.

Normally people go to a pub with other people, and it is common for one person to offer to buy drinks for the others, especially at the beginning. This is known as buying a round of drinks. You should always offer to return the favour, either by paying for a round of drinks yourself, or by offering to buy a drink for the person who paid for your drink. Sometimes people each pay money (for example: 10 pounds) to one member of the group at the beginning of the evening and use this pot or kitty to pay for drinks when wanted, until the money is finished.

It is not common to offer a tip to the person at the bar. If you want, you can tell a member of the bar staff to "have a drink on me", meaning that you will pay for the drink that he/she chooses (if you are offered a drink on the house, the pub pays for it).

Bans on smoking in enclosed public places (including pubs, bars and restaurants) were introduced throughout the UK in 2006/2007. You must go outside the building (for example to the pub garden, if it has one) if you want to smoke.

If you bump into someone and they spill their drink, you should offer to buy them another one.

Opening times depend on the conditions of the pub's licence. Standard opening times are between 11am and 11pm (10:30pm on Sundays or on public holidays; Scottish pubs generally do not open on Sunday afternoons). Since 24 November 2005 pubs can apply to extend these hours (opening earlier or closing later), so check the times when you arrive. Many places with extended hours open an hour earlier or close an hour later (eg at midnight): only a few places are open all night.

About 10 minutes before closing time (at about 10:50pm), the landlord will ring a bell and will tell people to order their last drinks (usually saying "Last drinks at the bar" or "Time, gentlemen, please"). The pub is not allowed to serve drinks after closing time. You must stop drinking 20 minutes after closing time; if you have not left by this time, the pub landlord may ask you to leave.

Do not drive after you have drunk alcohol. For information about how to call a taxi, see Travel/Transport/Taxi.
Please remember that people live near the pubs, so avoid making noise late at night.

BRITISH MEALS

The first meal of the day in the morning is breakfast (usually eaten between about 7:30 and 9:00). Many British people eat toast with butter or margarine and jam (often strawberry, raspberry, apricot or blackcurrant jam), marmalade (a type of jam made from oranges) or Marmite (a dark brown spread made from yeast). Melon, grapefruit or fruit cocktails are popular. Others eat a bowl of cereal; for example, cornflakes or muesli with milk, or porridge (a mixture of oats, hot milk and sugar). A traditional English breakfast (also known as a cooked breakfast or a fry-up) is a cooked meal which may contain food such as sausages, bacon, kippers (herring - a type of fish - which has been covered in salt and smoked), black pudding, scrambled or fried or poached egg (for details about how to cook a poached egg, see: http://www.perfectpoachedegg.com), mushrooms, fried tomatoes, baked beans, hash browns and toast. People sometimes eat a boiled egg, dipping (dunking) strips of toast (soldiers) into the egg yolk. A continental breakfast is a small meal and is not cooked; for example, a bread roll or croissant with cheese or ham and a cup of coffee. The most common drinks at this time of day are orange juice or a cup of breakfast tea.

Many people have a tea-break at about 11:00 in the morning (elevenses). If a meal is eaten in the late morning instead of both breakfast and lunch, it is called brunch.

Lunch (sometimes called more formally luncheon) is the meal eaten in the middle of the day (usually between about 12:30 and 2:00). Many people eat a sandwich (also known as a butty or sarnie in some parts of the UK). Some people have a simple meal such as cheese and biscuits or soup and bread. A ploughman's lunch is a traditional lunch for farmers: a bread roll, Cheddar cheese, Branston pickle and salad, perhaps with a pork pie. It is also traditional for people to go to a pub with some friends for a pub lunch and a drink.

A Sunday roast is a traditional meal eaten by a family at Sunday lunchtime; for example, roast beef with roast potatoes, parsnips, peas, Brussels sprouts, green beans, Yorkshire pudding, bread sauce and gravy. Mint sauce or redcurrant jelly is often eaten with lamb, apple sauce with pork, and horseradish sauce (a type of mustard) with beef, cranberry sauce with turkey. Stuffing may be eaten with chicken or turkey.

Tea-time is a small meal eaten in the late afternoon (usually between about 3:30 and 5:00). People may drink tea, and often eat biscuits (American English: cookies), cakes or savoury foods such as sandwiches, crumpets or tea-cakes. Occasionally people may have a full afternoon tea or a cream tea: this includes a scone with jam and cream (usually either whipped cream or thick clotted cream) as well as a selection of sandwiches and cakes. For an example of a traditional afternoon tea menu, see the Ritz Hotel's site: http://www.theritzhotel.co.uk/tea/teamenu.asp

High tea is a light meal eaten in the early evening (for example, 6 o'clock) served with a pot of tea; this is popular in north England and Scotland. Supper is the most common name for the meal eaten in the evening (usually between 7:00 and 8:30). Dinner is another common name for supper, but sometimes it is also used to refer to lunch, especially when this is the main meal of the day. A dinner party is a formal evening meal to which guests have been invited. A common type of cooked meal in Britain is meat and two veg. This is a meat dish served together on the same plate with two types of vegetable, one of which is often a type of potato. It is common to eat a dessert (also known as a pudding, or informally as afters) after the main dish. You can see an example of a traditional English restaurant menu from the website of Rules, the oldest restaurant in London: http://www.rules.co.uk/rest/mfmenu.html.

COMMON IDEAS

Many visitors to Britain do not have a clear idea about British food. Below are responses to some comments made by international students after being asked the question, "What do you think about British food?"

"What is it?"
Many visitors do not know what British food is, maybe because there are not many British restaurants in other parts of the world. If so, you can learn about some types of traditional British food by exploring all of the pages in the Britain/Food section.

"It's greasy"
You may think that British people eat greasy food (like fish and chips or a fried breakfast) every day. You may be offered a cooked breakfast every day if you stay in a hotel or bed and breakfast, but this is not normal life. Most British people only eat these foods occasionally (perhaps once a week, or less often). Britain is a dairy country, however - so milk, butter, cheese and cream are used more than in some countries.

"It's boring"
Perhaps you have already stayed in the UK and found the food boring or not tasty. This could be because you haven't tasted good home cooking or the food in high quality restaurants. There is actually a very wide variety of food. As well as the traditional British food shown here, there are also Chinese dishes, Indian curry, Spanish tapas, Italian pizza or pasta, Turkish kebabs, Japanese sushi and so on. Ingredients are available from many parts of the world, both in specialist shops and in ordinary supermarkets.

"It's dangerous"
British farmers have had some problems in recent years due to the spread of BSE (mad cow disease) within cattle in the 1990s, and then foot-and-mouth disease within sheep in 2001. These diseases caused many animals to be killed, and led to the introduction of new controls. Scientists believe that BSE can be passed to humans as a disease known as variant CJD, but cases are rare and seem to be linked to times before the new controls were put in place. Foot-and-mouth in sheep is not passed on to humans by eating lamb, and since 2001 there have only been a few cases of the disease in sheep. So is it safe to eat British meat? Probably - most British people continue to eat it, and the controls in the UK are now some of the tightest in the world. There are many shops or restaurants selling vegetarian and organic food if you prefer to eat this.

In Britain you will find most people are kinder to you if you behave politely, respecting local people and customs. You may sometimes upset people by things that you say or do, even if these things seem perfectly normal in your own culture.

SMALL TALK

When you first meet someone it can be difficult to know how to start a conversation, especially if your first language is not English.

Which topics are safe for small talk?

- Introductions, eg "Hello. May I introduce myself? My name is Mark"
- Travel, eg "Did you manage to find here OK?" or "Did you have a good journey?"
- Family, eg "How is your family?" (but only if you already know about the person's family)
- Hospitality, eg "Can I get you something to eat or drink?"
- The weather, eg "It's a lovely day today, isn't it?"
- Holidays, eg "Are you going anywhere this weekend?" or "Are you going anywhere on holiday this year?"
- Nature, eg "The garden looks lovely, doesn't it?"
- Pets, eg "What a lovely dog. What is his name?" (British people love dogs or cats)
- General news, eg "What do you think about the recent floods?" (but safer to avoid gossip and politics)
- Films, eg "Have you seen the film Bridget Jones's Diary?"
- Television, eg "Did you see The X Factor last night?"
- Music, eg "What sort of music do you like?"
- Books, eg "Have you read any good books recently?" (but only if you know the person likes reading)
- Sport, eg "Have you been watching Wimbledon?" (note that many British people, especially men, enjoy talking about football)
- Hobbies, eg "What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?"
- Business, eg "How's your business going?" (but only ask if you know the person has a business)
- Studies, eg "What are you studying?" (but only ask if you know the person is a student)
- Work, eg "What sort of work do you do?"
- Food, eg "I had a lovely Chinese meal last night - do you like Chinese food?"
- General matters about the person you are talking to, eg "Have you lived in this area long?"
- General matters on subjects that you know that interests the person you are talking to, eg cars, film stars etc