Lesson 341--Fussy



a fussy eater

 

One of my favourite English words is fussy.

It means to be particular or demanding about something.  Often these demands are very detail oriented.  People who are fussy are hard to please.

While it is negative, it isn't extremely negative.

Examples

He is very fussy about his kitchen.  He cleans it three times a day.

Mary is very fussy about her salads.  If she finds even the wrong lettuce, she gets angry.

Daniel is a fussy eater.  He doesn't eat any red or yellow vegetables.

I am very fussy about my beer.  It has to come from glass bottles and it must be cold!  Don't even try and serve me beer from a can!

Lesson 269--Drinking Vocabulary

Since I know some of my students like to drink, I decided to teach them some key alcohol vocabulary

 

mixed drinks = cocktails

 

These words are used interchangeably.

 

 

 

 

a twenty-sixer and a Texas Mickey

twenty-sixer (26 ounces, or 750 mL of alcohol)

 

mickey (13 ounces or 375 mL of alcohol)

Texas mickey (3 Litres of some kind of alcohol--These bottles are huge, and they look pretty impressive in your liquor cabinet--only sold in Canada)

 

 

 

shot--2 ounces of one kind of alcohol

shooter--one ounce of one or more alcohols or liqueurs.

 

In Canada, beer is sold in many different package sizes.  The following are the most popular.

six-pack (six bottles or cans)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

twelver (12 bottles or cans)

two-four (24 bottles or cans)

 

 

 

 

 

 

a couple of kegs

tall boy (a 500mL can)

                              

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                        Keg (a lot of beer....look it up)

Lesson 173--Bar talk

 

Phrases for ordering beer

A large number of students have told me that they speak better when they are drinking.  I don't want to doubt them but my experience say that this isn't really true.  However, since these students go to bars, they should have some language to help them.

Some of these phrases will also work for juice or soft drinks, but we should practice the language you really want to speak for a place you really want to speak it.

 

Ordering

I'll have a beer.

I'd like a beer.

One beer please.

Beer sounds good.

I'm in the mood for a beer.

I'll take a beer.

(Just say the name of a beer)

Asking questions

What's on tap?  (asking for what selection of draught beer they have)
What do you have on tap? (same as above)

What do you recommend?

What's your best deal in beer? (surprisingly, they might have a sale on one of their beers)

What's on special? (They may or may not have something on special.)

***please also see my blog post on asking where the toilet is.

Lesson 122--Beer Slang!!

Besides knowing the English names for different kinds of beer (ale, lager, stout....etc.) you should know the slang names for beer.  While the following are good for Canada, I cannot guarantee you can use them in all English speaking countries

 

Alternate words for Beer

brew

brewski

wobbly pop

barley sandwich

can/bottle of courage