Subj : A pie
To   : Ardith Hinton
From : Alexander Koryagin
Date : Mon Dec 18 2023 14:23:12


Hi, Ardith Hinton!
I read your message from 17.12.2023 02:00

 AK>> ========
 GH>> Steak and kidney pie is a popular British dish. It is a savoury
 GH>> pie filled principally with a mixture of diced beef, diced kidney
 GH>> (which may be beef, lamb, veal, or pork) and onion. (google)
 AK>> ========

 AK>> "Steak and kidney pie" _are_ different dishes.

 AH> No. Would you say fish & chips, macaroni & cheese, or corned beef &
 AH> cabbage are separate dishes? To me, as a person with ex-Brit roots,

I've said "different". Nobody can prohibit you eat them together. ;)

 AH> these are classic combinations which I think of as a unit. I don't
 AH> know of anyone who'd eat a pie made only with kidneys &/or boiled
 AH> macaroni with cheese on the side, but I do know of various ways to
 AH> serve most of the items listed above.

What is a dish after all, according to Longman?
-----Beginning of the citation-----
3. food cooked or prepared in a particular way as a meal :
a wonderful pasta dish
The menu includes a wide selection of vegetarian dishes.
This soup is substantial enough to serve as a  main dish  (= the biggest part of a meal ) .
----- The end of the citation -----

 AH> Because English isn't your native language you translate thiggs
 AH> like this word for word. I'm told the same occurs when Canadians
 AH> are travelling in Florida, BTW, so you needn't feel embarrassed...
 AH> [grin].

 AK>> "Steak" is just a piece of meat, IMHO.

 AH> If you tell me you had steak for dinner, yes. I'd say the same when
 AH> I've bought a large piece at the grocery store & cut it up to feed
 AH> the family. But at a restaurant people usually order single
 AH> servings by weight. You might ask for a ten-ounce steak, e..,,
 AH> while your companion wants more or less. :-)

.....and two-ounce steak to my wife. ;-)

 AK>> I also suspect that the more the speech is informal the less
 AK>> articles it contains. ;-)

 GH>> I don't think there's such a connection, or dependency. But
 GH>> without tutors it's getting hard to settle this kind of
 GH>> dispute. :-)

 AH> I'm here. While I can't always keep up with you guys, I'm delighted
 AH> to see the increase in traffic since Gleb joined us in
 AH> ENGLISH_TUTOR.... :-))

After all when people speak they don't use any commas. A sentence - that is the main lexical unit, IMHO. ;) An English person pronounces words in such a way that no commas can help for the listener. Only the experience to listen it from the birth. The melody of phrases.

Bye, Ardith!
Alexander Koryagin
english_tutor 2023

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