PI1004

22 April, 2023

Name:……………………………

UNIT 5: FOOD

I. Vocabulary.
1. dine (v) /daɪn/: to eat dinner.
2. dine in: dine at home.
 We're dining in tonight.
3. dine out: dine at a restaurant.
 We're dining out tonight.
4. fussy /ˈfʌsi/: too concerned about having things exactly as you want them; hard
to please
5. fussy eater: someone who is very picky about the food and doesn't eat
everything.
 BeBi is a fussy eater, and she's never pleased with my cooking.
6. home-cooked food: food cooked at home, usually implies that food is healthy.
 Preparing home-cooked food is a good way to make a balanced meal.
7. in a walking distance of: close to
 I usually dine at a restaurant that's in a walking distance of my home.

8. Vietnamese cuisine: traditional Vietnamese food. You can also say French
cuisine, Italian cuisine, Chinese cuisine and so on.

 I adore banh mi, pho and Vietnamese cuisine in general.

9. more of a chore than a pleasure: something you do rather unwillingly.

 Be thinks that cooking is more of a chore than a pleasure.

10. mouth-watering: delicious, appetizing.

 my mouth is watering: that is to say you find something very

appetizing. People use this expression when they see/smell food that looks
very delicious.
  My mouth is watering every time I think about my grandmother's apple
pie.
11. nutritious products /nuˈtrɪʃəs ˈprɑːdʌkt/: products rich in calories.
 A nutritious breakfast is a great way to start the day, as it gives your
body the nutrients /ˈnuːtriənt/and you get enough energy.
12. processed food /ˈprɑːsest fuːd/: food that has been modified in an undesirable
/ˌʌndɪˈzaɪərəbl/or unhealthy way to achieve its current state.
 Try to avoid processed foods like flavored nuts and cereal bars. It is
much healthier to eat organic food.

13. quality justifies the bill: when a product is worth buying due its good quality,
even if it's expensive.

 I first thought those strawberries were too expensive, but when I tasted
them I understood that their quality justified the bill.

14. quick snack: a light and quick meal, usually unhealthy.

 Eating quick snack instead of main meal can be harmful for your
stomach.

15. ready meal: a meal that you buy already cooked, which only requires reheating
to be eaten.

 Ged had no desire to cook, so he bought a ready meal in Circle K.

16. restrain one's hunger: to avoid eating when you really want to. Usually practiced
/rɪˈstreɪn/

during diets.

 Kevin couldn't restrain his hunger anymore and went to the nearest
fast-food restaurant. (restrain: to stop somebody/something from doing
something, especially by using physical force)

17. slap-up meal: a quick and fatty meal. To slap up means to cook something very
quickly.
  I feel like making a slap-up meal tonight.

Slap-up /ˈslæp ʌp/ [only before noun] (British English, informal): (of a meal) large and

very good

18. starving hungry: to be extremely hungry.

 I woke up starving hungry yesterday and ate the whole roast chicken.

19. take-away: a meal prepared in a café/restaurant and eaten at home.

 I'm going to ring BeBi restaurant and order a takeaway.

20. the main meal: the most important meal of the day.

 Breakfast is considered my main meal.

21. to be dying of hunger: an exaggerated way of saying you are really hungry.

 I haven't eaten all day. I'm dying of hunger!

exaggerated /ɪɡˈzædʒəreɪtɪd/ (adj): made to seem larger, better, worse or more

important than it really is or needs to be

22. to be full-up: to eat to the point that you can't eat anymore.

 Hang: Would you like more chips?

i. Sophie: No, thank you, I'm already full-up!
23. to be ravenous (to have ravenous appetite): to be really hungry, starving,
voracious.

 After working all day, I had a ravenous appetite.

Ravenous /ˈrævənəs/: (of a person or an animal) extremely hungry

Appetite /ˈæpɪtaɪt/: a physical desire for food

24. to bolt /bəʊlt/something down: to eat a large amount of food very quickly.
  Don't bolt your food down like that, it's very rude!

25. to catch a snack: to eat a little portion of food very quickly.

26. to eat a balanced diet: to eat correctly and in time.
27. to eat like a horse: to always eat a lot.

 She's so thin, yet she eats like a horse.

28. to follow a recipe: to cook a meal using instructions.

 Although she had never cooked a jugged hare before, she followed a
recipe and made a fantastic meal.

29. to foot the bill: to pay the bill.

 You paid for dinner last time. Let me foot the bill for lunch today.

30. to grab a bite to eat: to eat something quickly.

I won't eat the whole cake, just let me grab a bite to eat.

31. to have a sweet tooth: to enjoy eating sweet food.

 Dave eats candy all the time. He must have a sweet tooth.

32. to overeat oneself: eat too much, eat immodestly.

 If you overeat, you're bound to get fat.

33. to play with your food: to push food around the plate without eating it.
34. to spoil one’s appetite: to do something that would hinder one’s desire to eat.

 Stop talking about the Uzumaki, you're spoiling my appetite!

35. to tuck into: to eat something greedily and with pleasure.

 After not eating the whole day, Irene tucked into the ham like a savage.
36. to wine and dine: to banquet /ˈbæŋ.kwət/, to "entertain with good food". If you
wine and dine someone, you usually take the person out to dinner at a fancy
restaurant.
 The company wined and dined us, hoping to convince us that we should
accept the job.

37. to work up an appetite: to do something that will lead to hunger.

 He must have worked up an appetite in the gym.

II. TEN FOOD IDIOMS FOR IELTS

A. Cheese
1. A big cheese: a person of importance or authority.
 Apparently BeBi is a big cheese of the BeBi milk tea franchise.

2. Different as chalk and cheese: if two people or things are like chalk and
cheese or as different as chalk and cheese, they are completely different
from each other.
 Milu & Sori are like chalk and cheese.

3. Cheese and kisses = wife (Australian English)

 The cheese and kisses and I will go on a holiday to Canada this month.
B. Tea
1. (Just/not) one’s cup of tea: (informal) (not) what somebody likes or is
interested in.
 Internet troll is just/not my cup of tea.
2. A storm in a teacup (BriE) = A tempest in a teapot (AmE): a lot of anger or
worry about something that is not important
 I really think you’re making a storm in a teacup over this. It’s
just a tiny scratch on the car!
3. To be no tea party: to be difficult/unpleasant.
 The test was no tea party.

C. Banana
1. One-banana problem: A problem, project, or task that requires little to
no effort, expertise, or intelligence to solve or complete.
  It’s only a one-banana problem, even kids can solve it. I can’t
understand why people get stuck there.
2. Going bananas: Go crazy
 I will go bananas if you still acts like this.
3. A banana skin: something that could cause somebody to have problems or
feel embarrassed, especially somebody in a public position
 The new tax has proved to be a banana skin for the government.
D. Apples
1. Apples and Oranges: Completely different
 They are both great but you can't compare apples and oranges.
2. The apple of sb’s eye: the person who someone loves most and is very
proud of
 Her daughter is the apple of her eye.
3. Upset the apple cart: to mess up or ruin something.
 I always knew he’d tell secrets and upset the apple cart.
4. A bad/rotten apple: one bad person in a group of people who are good
 In every organization, you can find a bad apple who can damage their
prestige. (prestige /preˈstiːʒ/: uy tín)
5. Put something in apple-pie order: in very good, well organized order
Example: I’ve put my entire life into apple-pie order.
E. Pie
1. eat humble pie: to make an apology and accept humiliation
 I will not break my promise to eat humble pie and admit that I have
made a mistake if you can prove it.
2. piece of the pie: A share or part of something.
 The business owner wanted all of his employees to have a piece of the
pie, so he gave them all stock in the company as a holiday bonus.
3. (as) easy as pie: very easy
 You make everything sound as easy as pie, Ged map.
4. Pie in the sky: an event that somebody talks about that seems very
unlikely to happen.
 This talk of moving to Australia is all just pie in the sky.

F. Beans
1. Full of beans: having a lot of energy
  The children were too full of beans to sit still.
2. Spill the beans: To tell somebody something that should be kept secret or
private.
 They are looking into who spilled the beans about the voting results?
G. In a nutshell: In a few words; concisely
 The explanation is long and involved, but let me put it in a nutshell for you.
 To put it in a nutshell, we're bankrupt.
H. Egg
1. Walking on eggshells: taking great care/try hard not to upset someone.
 Everyone at the company was walking on eggshells until we heard that
no one would be fired.
2. (To) have/put all your eggs in one basket: put too much faith in one thing,
to rely on one particular course of action for success rather than giving
yourself several different possibilities.
 Don’t put all your eggs in one basket! You should always have Plan B
3. Egg someone on: urge someone to do something
 My parents tried to egg me on studying abroad. However, I didn’t
manage to pass the IELTS test with a high score to study overseas.
I. Butter

1. (To) butter somebody up: to flatter someone

 He is trying to butter his friends up so that they can help him with the
coming test.
2. A hair in the butter: A problem or challenging situation
 To score band 8.0 in the IELTS test to get a scholarship is a hair in the
butter to me.
3. Bread and butter: necessities, the main thing
 X is a Grab shipper, but being a dog thief is his bread and butter.
J. Cake
1. A piece of cake: very easy
 Achieving Band 6.0 in IELTS is a piece of cake for almost every English
native speakers.
2. Icing on the cake: something good that is added to another good thing
 He’s not only handsome but also talented. It’s an added bonus – the
frosting/icing on the cake.
3. Sell like hot cakes: bought by many people
 Milu’s new biography is selling like hot cakes!

In a nutshell, I hope you go bananas for food idioms. Whether they’re your
cup of tea or not, these terms are easy as pie to use in the IELTS Speaking
test and they’ll make you the big cheese of any conversation! So go ahead
and spill the beans, it’s just like apples and oranges.