Pea-souper

Feifei
Hello and welcome to The English We Speak. I’m Feifei…

Neil
And I’m Neil.

Feifei
Errr, Neil why are you still here? I thought you were driving to Manchester and Rob was going to present the programme.

Neil
Feifei, have you looked outside the window?

Feifei
Errr, no. Should I?

Neil
It’s a pea-souper out there!

Feifei
You want me to look out of the window at pea soup? Is there a big bowl of it or something?

Neil
No, there’s no soup - it’s an informal way of describing thick fog. It’s so thick you can hardly see through it. And that’s why I can’t drive to Manchester.

Feifei
That is a shame. But why a pea-souper?

Neil
I guess because, like pea soup, it’s thick and a dark cloudy colour.

Feifei
Hmm, well I’d rather eat pea soup than be in it! I think we had better hear some examples of this strange phrase…

Examples
It looks like our flight is delayed until this pea-souper clears.

It’s a real pea-souper today. When I was driving here I couldn’t even see the car in front of me.

There’s no way I’m cycling in this pea-souper. It’s far too dangerous.

Feifei
This is The English We Speak from BBC Learning English. And I’m with Neil, who can’t travel because of a pea-souper - that’s a very thick fog that’s hard to see through.

Neil
Sometimes you can refer to it as ‘smog’, if it’s fog mixed with air pollution.

Feifei
Yes, that’s horrible stuff to be in. Well Neil, if you can’t go to Manchester, what are we going to do?

Neil
Well, let’s have lunch together.

Feifei
Yes, and what are we going to eat?

Neil
Pea soup of course! It’s that kind of day.

Feifei
Oh look, the fog is clearing. Maybe you can drive after all!

Neil
Hmm, I’ll get my coat. Bye.

Feifei
See you.