Feifei: Hello and welcome to The English
We Speak. I'm Feifei.
Rob: And I'm Rob. Feifei, feeling hungry?
Feifei: Rob, they smell amazing!
Rob: Almost there. We're having a special
treat today... waffles!
Feifei: Rob is making waffles: those lovely,
crispy little cakes with raised squares on
the surface.
Rob: Absolutely! My favourite. But what
are we going to put on them?
Feifei: Oh that's simple: strawberries and
syrup. What about you?
Rob: OK, I'm not so sure. I mean, I used to
always love them with honey
and bananas. But they do taste
amazing with melted chocolate. Or... with
cream. You know, I recently tried one with
peanut butter: not a good experience.
I guess strawberries would be
worth trying... Or mango.
But only if the mangoes are fresh...
Feifei: Rob?
Rob: Yes?
Feifei: Can you stop waffling on?
Rob: Ah, very clever. Perfect time to use
that phrase! I do need to stop waffling on,
don't I?
Feifei: Yes, please. To 'waffle on' means
to talk and talk without saying anything
very useful or interesting.
Rob: I am sometimes guilty of that.
Let's hear a few more examples.
I think I did really badly in the interview.
I wasn't sure how to answer the
questions, so I just waffled on.
Meetings with Frank are frustrating.
He always waffles on about unimportant
things. Someone needs to have
a word with him.
I used to find her blog really interesting
and inspiring, but these days
she just waffles on about her pet tortoise.
Feifei: There we are. To waffle on. At least
we don't waffle on in this programme,
do we Rob?
Rob: Well, I must admit that sometimes
people have said I do talk rather a lot,
especially when it's about travel or
languages... which reminds me I really
should book my next holiday...
I've been considering Croatia, though I...
Feifei: Rob?
Rob: Ah. Am I waffling on?
Feifei: I'm afraid so.
Rob: Ooh, it's waffle time!
Feifei: Great. Hopefully these tasty
waffles will keep you quiet for a while.
Rob: Are you saying the waffles will
stop me waffling on?
Feifei: Yup! Now, enough talk... Oh, these
waffles are delicious.
Rob: Not bad, eh?!
Feifei: Bye.
Rob: Bye.