dialogues again~~~

[joychow1985]

1.A: Mark's mother invited me to dinner. Do you think it's rude to tell her ahead of time that I'm a vegetarian?

B: Rude! I think she'd appreciate it-imagine how you'd both feel if she fixed a steak dinner or something.

why did B mention the underlined sentence? Acturally how would A and Mark's mother feel if...?

2.A: I have a collect call from Mike Peterson.

B: I'll accepct the charges.

what does "a collect call" mean? Why will B accept the charges?

thank u guys so much~~~

and andy-hughes~~~hoping ur appearance~~~^ ^

[carolegif]

1. If the mother had cooked the meal (and bought it!) and the person couldn't eat it, it would mean awkwardness all round. Much better to say you are a veggie first then the mother can cook something suitable and not waste food and money. It would save embarrassment.

2. In England a "collect call" is called a "reverse charge" call. It means you call the operator and she will call the person you are 'phoning and ask if they will pay for the call instead. My children found it handy when they were out late and missed the last bus and had no change!

carolegif

[joychow1985]

now i c~~~thank u~~~carolegif~~~ ^ ^

[Azimov]

Actually Carole, in the UK a collect call is called a "reverse charge" call.
To phrase it as you did simply perpetuates the belief held by so many "foreigners" that England = UK and therefore, UK = England.

As a Scot I find it extremely annoying to be asked (for example) how the weather is in England today, when the person I'm talking to knows full well I live in Scotland!
It is precisely this kind of phraseology that confuses our foreign friends.

Pedantic? Maybe!
Factually accurate? Most definetly!

[joychow1985]

RoaldoM: good idea~~~but, frankly, I've not gotten who u r talking to~~~^ ^

Azimov: as a foreigner I know that the UK includes England, Scotland,Wales and the northern Ireland~~~but sometimes we really take it 4 granted that UK=England~~~in Chinese~~~Usually we call the UK "eng guo(country)"~~~^ ^