Unit 11Meals: Dinner (I)

Dinner is the main meal of the day, eaten at midday or in the evening. The meal normally consists of a combination of cooked, or sometimes uncooked, proteins (meat, fish or legumes), with vegetables, and/or starch products like rice, noodles, or potatoes.

The word “dinner” comes from the French word dîner, the “chief repast (meal) of the day”, ultimately from the Latin disiunare, which means to break fast (as in the English word “breakfast“). A dinner can also be a more sophisticated meal, such as a banquet.

In the United Kingdom, dinner traditionally meant the main meal of the day. Because of differences in custom as to when this meal was taken, dinner might mean the evening meal (typically used by upper class people), or the midday meal (typically used by working class people, who describe their evening meal as tea). Vestiges of the English class system remain in the choice of word for the evening meal – a person with upper-class antecedents might use neither “dinner” nor “tea” but, confusingly, “supper” for a less formal meal (which people in the North use to refer to a hot, often milky, drink such as cocoa or hot chocolate and biscuits, taken immediately before retiring for the night).

Large formal evening meals are invariably described as dinners (hence, also, the term dinner jacket which is a form of evening dress).

School dinners is a British phrase for school lunches – reflecting the fact that such school meals were originally provided chiefly for the children of the working class, who typically had their main meal in the middle of the day – and women working in school canteens are generally known in the UK as dinner ladies (however, if a pupil brings his or her food from home, it is a packed lunch).

Ambiguity can be avoided by using lunch for the midday meal.A more formal definition of “dinner”, especially outside North

America, is any meal consisting of multiple courses. The minimum is usually two but there can be as many as seven.

The Romanian dineu comes from the French dîner, meaning “banquet”, “dinner”, “evening meal”, “festival evening meal”. (After Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia)

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ä Vocabulary

avoid (v.) = a evitachoice of word = alegerea termenuluiconfusingly = într-un mod confuzcooked = gătit(ă)dinner = banchet, cină, dineudinner jacket = smoching dinner lady = bucătăreasăevening dress = haină / rochie de searăhence = de undelegume = plantă leguminoasăneither … nor … = nici … nici …noodles = tăiţeipacked lunch = prânz la pachetpotato = cartofpupil = elevretire (v.) = a retragestarch product = produse care conţin amidonuncooked = negătit(ă)upper class people = oamenii din clasa superioarăvegetables = legumeworking class people = muncitorii

ä Exercises

1. Answer the following.

- What is a dinner?- What does it consist of?- Where does the word dinner come from?- What did dinner traditionally mean in the UK?- What may dinner mean in the UK?- What is a school dinner?- How are women working in school canteens generally known

in the UK as?- How can be ambiguity avoided?- What does the Romanian dineu mean?

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2. Match the following.

1. dinner a. a restaurant that presents a play during or after dinner

2. dinner jacket

b. the chief meal of the day eaten in the evening or at midday, a banquet or formal meal in honour of a person or an event, the food prepared for either of these meals; table d’hôte

3. dinner theatrec. the plates, serving bowls, platters, and other tableware used in serving a meal; a set of dishes

4. dinnertime d. the time during which dinner is normally eaten

5. dinnerware e. tuxedo

3. Group the following words related to feast, as in the model.

banquet – dinner – dinner guest – feast – first course – guest – guest of honour – host – main course – master of ceremonies – propose a toast

Words referring toa large or important

mealthe leader of a feast

the parts of a feast

the people invited to a

feast

what happens at

a feastbanquet

4. Fill in with the proper article from below.

a – an – the

… noodle is made from unleavened dough that has been shaped into thin flat strips or round cylinders and cooked in … boiling liquid. Depending upon the type, noodles may be dried or refrigerated before cooking. … word noodle derives from … German Nudel (noodle) and may be related to … Latin word nodus (knot). In English, noodle is … generic term for unleavened dough made from many different types of ingredients and includes … variety of shapes.

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5. Characterise the following types of banquet as in the model.

A banquet is a large public meal or feast, complete with main courses and desserts. It usually serves a purpose, such as a charitable gathering, a ceremony, or a celebration, often followed by speeches in honour of someone. Banquets have been used as a formal occasion for thousands of years. Kings during medieval times frequently threw banquets for special events, such as birthdays or holidays. On occasion, sports associations throw banquets as an attempt to enhance team chemistry, or also just to relax the players and/or coaches. Business banquets are a popular way to strengthen bonds between businessmen and their partners. A Luau is one variety of banquet originally used in Hawaii.

Type of banquet

Purpose

awar

ding

cele

brat

ing

enha

ncin

g te

am

chem

istr

y

gath

erin

g fo

r cha

rity

rela

xing

stre

ngth

enin

g bo

nds

Luau + +

6. Compare a Romanian packed lunch with the following ones.

A packed lunch is a lunch prepared at home and carried to be eaten somewhere else, such as school, a workplace or at an outing. The food can be carried in a lunchbox or wrapped in paper, plastic or foil. While packed lunches are usually taken from home by the people who are going to eat them, in Mumbai in India tiffin boxes are most often picked up from the home and brought to workplaces later in the day by so-called dabbawallas. It is today also possible to buy packed lunches from stores in several countries. In the US, an informal meeting at work, over lunch, where everyone brings a packed lunch, is a brown-bag lunch or colloquially a brown bag, the practice known as brownbagging. One such lunch was used as a deliberate rebuff, of the Chinese hosts, by the US delegation at peace negotiations during the Korean War in Kaesong. The Chinese hosts offered lunch and watermelon to the U.S. guests, which they rejected in favour of their own packed lunches.

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7. Change the text into future.

The Dinner Party, an important icon of 1970s feminist art and a milestone in twentieth-century art, is presented as the centrepiece around which the Elizabeth A. Sackler Centre for Feminist Art is organized, on the fourth floor of Brooklyn Museum. The Dinner Party, created by Judy Chicago, comprises a massive ceremonial banquet, arranged on a triangular table with a total of thirty-nine place settings, each commemorating an important woman from history. The settings consist of embroidered runners, gold chalices and utensils, and china-painted porcelain plates with raised central motifs that are based on butterfly forms and rendered in styles appropriate to the individual women being honoured. The names of another 999 women are inscribed in gold on the white tile floor below the triangular table. This permanent installation is enhanced by rotating History Gallery exhibitions relating to the 1,038 women honoured at the table.

8. Group the adverbs in the text below as in the table.

Positive Comparative Superlativediscreetly

Dinner aboard the Shasta Sunset Dinner Train is just what one would expect aboard the finest dining cars in history. Ivory linens, fine china, polished silver and sparkling stemware discreetly accent the four course dining experience, elegantly prepared by our gourmet chef and promptly served by our impeccably trained service staff. Choose a selection from our extensive wine list or simply gaze out the window as the train winds its way through the awe-inspiring scenery of pristine, uncrowded Northern California. The Dinner Train cars, with their deep “Pullman Green” and gold exterior finish, were originally built for the Illinois Central Railroad in 1916. Acquired in 1995, these “heavyweight” cars have been carefully rebuilt in the McCloud Railway’s shops where meticulous attention to detail is evident in their rich mahogany and brass interiors. Our dining cars are named for north state counties Shasta, Siskiyou, and Lassen. Our Trinity car can be easily set up as a theatre car for up to 70 people and can also be used for music and dancing. The Train operates over the historic McCloud Railway, with roots back to 1897.

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9. Link the sentences in each pair, using the words between brackets and making all necessary changes.

- I peeled the potatoes. I remembered I hadn’t bought the lamb. (as)

- I prepared dinner. The children laid the table. (while)- I shopped. I met your boyfriend. (while)- I will finish my work. I will help you cook dinner. (as soon as)- I wondered what to cook for dinner. You called me. (while)- Mother prepared the vegetables for the pudding. Mother

remembered she was short of flour. (as)- She will start working. The 10-min break will end. (as soon as)- We switched off all the lights. We went to bed. (before)- You came home. Your mobile started ringing. (no sooner …

than)- You finished eating. You left for work again. (after)

ä Let’s Laugh!

One day a lady from the church had come over and had given a gift for all the wonderful sermons that her husband has given. Mrs. Johnson had said, “Thank you very much but what is it?” The lady said, “It is a Damn ham.” Mrs. Johnson looked shocked and said, “Don’t speak that way to me, don’t you know that I am the preachers wife!” The lady said, “Yes, yes I know, but that is the brand name of the ham!” Mrs. Johnson said, “Ooh I see well thank you” and the lady left. Later that night when Mrs. Johnson was cooking dinner the preacher came into the kitchen and said, “Mmmm! That smells really good! What is it?” Mrs. Johnson said,” Well that’s your dinner tonight, some Damn Ham”. The preacher was shocked and said, “Don’t speak to me that way! Don’t you know who I am?” Mrs. Johnson said, “Yes, yes! I know who you are! It is just the brand name!” The preacher said, “Oh! I see! Well, it smells great!” That night when dinner was ready she had set it out on the table. The corn, mashed potatoes, rolls, and ham! When the family sat down they said their prayers and began to eat. The preacher said to his wife, “Could you please pass me some of that Damn ham?” The wife said “Sure”. Then little Johnny said, “Alright dad! While you’re at it can you pass me the fucking mashed potatoes?!”

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