Food for thought

Hi Finn. What are you doing here sitting alone in the canteen? Can I sit with you?

Sure. Take a seat, Feifei.

Mind if I take a chip? They look good.

Oh yeah, go ahead! I’m just eating this quickly as I’m going out soon, you know? I’m going to take a look at a car. It’s a sports car! I’ve always wanted one.

A sports car? Sounds expensive. How can you afford a sports car?

Well, it’s a second-hand car. The owner needs to sell it quickly so they’re selling it really cheaply. What a great opportunity, huh?!

These sports cars burn a lot of fuel, you know, Finn. The car might come cheap but do you want to end up keeping it in a garage?

Well, I hadn’t thought of that…

And there’s also insurance. A car like that will attract thieves, so it’ll cost a lot…

That’s right. You know… you’ve just given me some food for thought…

Food? You want more food? I thought you wanted to finish eating quickly?

I’m not talking about real food. In English, when you say ‘food for thought’ you mean serious ideas or topics for us to think about.

Nothing to do with chips, then?

No food involved. ‘Food for thought’ is today’s expression in The English We Speak. Let’s hear some examples of how it’s used.

Examples

The football coach was really disappointed when his team lost 3-0 to an amateur side. But it gave him food for thought.

Mary’s divorce gave her food for thought. She decided to go back to university, get a diploma, and change her life around.

So Finn, are you going to buy this sports car?

I’m not so sure now. You have indeed given me food for thought.

these are good–

My chips! Feifei, you’ve taken all my chips?

Sorry Finn. They looked so good and I thought you were in a rush.

I was, until you gave me… food for thought!

Ok – let me get another plate. Chips are much better than sports cars anyway. Let’s just focus on the eating today.

Yeah, and let’s do the thinking another day! Bye.

Bye.

From the archives

All The English We Speak programmes pre-September 2014 can be found here.