Comparing the cultural and linguistic analysis of the English word “meal” and words relating to it in contrast with Vietnamese equivalents.

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PART A
INTRODUCTION

1. Rationale
People’s life is changing day by day. Exchange and learning each other
are essential culture demand of human beings. One of the methods to satisfy
this demand is studying foreign language. There are thousands of different
languages to chose, but holding the top list is English. As it appears every
corner all over the world and people adapt it as their first or second language.
Thanks to English the space between people and countries become shorter and
shorter.
Finding the importance of English most people nowadays learn English.
However, few of them deeply understand this language as well as its cultural
characteristics through meaning of word(s). As they do not realize that behind
a word there are many things to discuss. So, sometimes they are surprised by
the diversity in the meaning of the word in communication.
As Vietnamese students who are learning English, we would like to
research English culture in the light of linguistic view of word “meal” and its
contrast with Vietnamese equivalents. Actually, we chose this word as we think
that behind the word there must be many interesting things, especially cultural
field. Moreover, people say that to understand culture of a country s/he should
look into eating and drinking style of that country because they themselves
reflect cultural elements.
We hope that after the graduation paper in print, it will help learners as
well as readers understand more clearly about English and Vietnamese culture
through the word “meal”.
2. Aims of the study
We write this graduation paper is not out of the aims to:
_ Help learners / readers understand about field of word meal .“ ”
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_ Help learners / readers understand about the culture and linguist of the
word “meal” in English and its Vietnamese equivalents “tªn c¸c b÷a ¨n , ®å ” “
uèng , dông cô ¨n uèng , n¬i ¨n uèng , nghi thøc” “ ” “ ” “ ”
_ Compare the cultural and linguistic analysis of the English word
“meal” and words relating to it in contrast with Vietnamese equivalents.
3. Scope of the study
Because of space and time, the graduation paper cannot cover the whole
cultural meaning of the word “meal” in English as well as in Vietnamese
equivalents. Thus, we only focus on researching some aspects as follows:
_ Definitions of word and meaning.
_ Some information about lexical and semantic field of word, lexical
meaning, cultural meaning.
_ Cultural and linguistic analysis in English word “meal and its
Vietnamese equivalents: “tªn c¸c b÷a ¨n , ®å uèng , dông cô ¨n uèng , ” “ ” “ ”
n¬i ¨n uèng , nghi thøc .“ ” “ ”
_ Comparison between the cultural and linguistic analysis of the English
word “meal” and words relating to it in contrast with Vietnamese equivalents.
4. Methods of the study
To complete this study, we base on some methods as follow:
_ Definiting word and meaning .
_ Introducing lexical and semantic field of word.
_ Analyzing the culture and linguist of the word “meal” in English and
in Vietnamese equivalents.
_ Comparing the cultural and linguistic analysis of the English word
“meal” and words relating to it in contrast with Vietnamese equivalents.
5. Design of the study
The graduation paper is divided into 3 parts:
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Part A Introduction
Part B Investigation
Chapter I Theoretical background
- Definition of word and meaning
- Lexical meaning
- Cultural meaning
- Lexical and semantic field of words
Chapter II Field of word “meal” in English and words relating to it
(in contrast with Vietnamese equivalents)
- Definition of word “meal”
- Field of word “meal” in English and in Vietnamese equivalents
- Cultural and linguistic analysis of the English word “meal”
Chapter III Cultural and linguistic analysis of Vietnamese equivalents
relating to the English word “meal”
Chapter IV Comparison of the English word “meal” and words
relating to it (in contrast with Vietnamese equivalents)
Part C: Conclusion

PART B
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INVESTIGATION
CHAPTER I THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
1. What is the word?
It is said that to give out the definition of every basic notion is not easy
task as each person has their own point of view about the thing they want to
definite. In fact, the definition of a word is one of the most difficult ones
because each word has many different aspects. It has a sound form as it is a
certain arrangement of phonemes. Also, it has morphological structure.
However, being used in current speech, it may appear in different word forms

and signal various meanings.
Many scholars have attempted to define the word as a linguistic
phenomenon as well as collected the variants of definitions according to their
aims and interests.
According to Tomas Hobbes (1588- 1679), one of the great English
philosophers, words are not mere sound but name of matter. Three centuries
later, the great Russian physiologist I.P.Pavlov (1849- 1936) examined the word
in connection with his studies of the second signal system, and defined it as a
universal sign that can substitute any other signal from the environment in
evoking a respond in a human organism.
Another point is that in the scope of linguistic the word, structurally,
possesses several characteristics basing on distinguishing between the external
and the internal structures of the word.
External structure of the word means its morphological structure. For
example, in the word “post- impressionists” the following morpheme can be
distinguished: the prefixes “post-, im” , the root “press”, the noun-forming
suffixes “-ion , -ist” “ ”, and the grammatical suffix of plurality “-s”. All the
morpheme constitute the external structure of the word post- impressionists“ ”.
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The structure of words, and also typical word-information patterns, are
studied in the section on word-building.
The internal structure of the word, or its meaning, nowadays, commonly
referred to the word’s semantic structure.
Another structural aspect of the word is its unity. The word possessed
both external (or formal) unity and semantic unity. Formal unity of the word is
not, strictly speaking, indivisible. Yet, its component morphemes are
permanently linked together in opposition to word-groups, both free and with
contexts, whose components possess a certain structural freedom, for example
“bright light”.

The formal unity of the word can be best illustrated by comparing a word
and a word-group comprising identical constituents. The difference between “a
blackbird” and “a black bird” is best explained by their relationship with the
grammatical system of the language. The word “blackbird”, which is
characterized by unity, possesses a single grammatical framing: “blackbirds”.
The first constituent “black ” is not subject to any grammatical changes. In the
word-group “a black bird”, each constituent can acquire grammatical forms of
its own: “the blackest bird I ve ever seen.’ ” Other words can be inserted
between the components which is impossible so far as the word is concerned as
it would violate its unity “a black night bird”.
The same example may be used to illustrate what we mean by semantic
unity. In the word-group “a black bird” each of the meaningful words conveys
a separate concept: bird“ ”- a kind of living creature; black“ ”- a color. The word
“black bird” conveys only one concept the type of bird. This is one of the main
features of any word: it always conveys one concept, no matter how many
component morphemes it may have in its external structure.
A further structural feature of the word is its susceptibility to
grammatical employment. In speech, most words can be used in different
grammatical forms in which their interrelation is realized.
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The last point of view about definition of the word is given out by
S.Potter, who writes that not similar to a phoneme or a syllable, a word is not a
linguistic unit at all.
All the above views are basic definitions of the word. However, the
linguistics have not pointed out the relationship in communication between a
speaker and a listener in which the speaker’s mental process is converted into
sound groups called “words” and the listener’s brain converts the acoustic
phenomena into notion and ideas. In other words, it is a two- way process of
communication.

To sum up, all of different definitions and views of the word can be
conclusioned as follow: the word is a speech unit used for the purposes of
human communication, materially representing a group of sounds, possessing a
meaning, susceptible to grammatical employment and characterized by formal
and semantic unity.
2. What is the meaning?
So far many linguistics have tried their best to put forward a definition of
meaning. Each of them has a view about the meaning according to their own
way.
According to J.Fitzgerald in “From word and meaning”, he wrote
“language is the amber in which a thousand precious and subtle thoughts
have been safely embedded and preserved”. It proves that the every function of
the word as a unit of communication is made possible by its possessing a
meaning. And among the word’s various characteristics, meaning is certainly
the most important.
In English, the philosopher Wittgenstein said in Words and their“
meaning” that “the meaning of the word is its use in the language”
Also according to B. Russell “a word has a meaning, more or less
vague, but the meaning is only to be discovered by observing its use, the use
come first, and the meaning is distilled out of it .”
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Generally speaking, meaning can be more or less described as a
component of the word through which a concept is communicated, in this way
endowing the word with the ability of denoting, qualities, actions and abstract
notions. The complex and somewhat mysterious relationship between referent
(object, etc. denoted by the word), concept and word can be explained: there is
no immediate relation between word and referent: it is established only through
the concept (concept is thought or referent).
On the other hand, there is a hypothesis that concepts can only find their

realization through words. It seems that thought is dormant till the word wakens
it up. It is only when we hear a spoken word or read a printed word that the
corresponding concept springs into mind.
The branch of linguistics which specializes in the study of meaning is
called “semantic”. As with many terms, the term “semantic” is ambiguous for it
can stand, as well, for the expressive aspect of language in general and for the
meaning of one particular word in all its varied aspects and nuances. It means
that the semantics of a word is not different from the meaning(s) of a word.
Thus, according to M. Pei puts it in “The study of language”, semantic is
“language” in its broadest, most inclusive aspect. Sounds, words, grammatical
forms, syntactical constructions are the tools of language. Semantic is
language’s avowed purpose.
3. Lexical meaning
Though people who study lexical meaning have pointed out definitions
about it; however, they all share a common view that lexical meaning is the
realization or naming of a notion, emotion or object by means of a definite
language system.
Notion denotes the reflection in the mind of real object and phenomena
in their essential features and relation in words. Each notion is characterized by
its scope and content. The scope of the notion is determined by all the objects it
refers to. The content of the notion is made up of all the features that distinguish
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it from other notions. The distinction between the scope and the content of a
notion lies at the basis of such terms as the identifying (demonstrative) and
significative functions of the word. The identifying function may be interpreted
as denoting the objects covered by the scope of the notion expressed in the
word, and the significative function is the function of expressing the content of
the respective notion. The function of rendering an emotion or an attitude is
termed the expressive function. In other words, the emotional content of a word

is itself can evoke intentional or affective connotations of word.
Basing on two functions above, there may be two types of denotation
meaning: significant and demonstrative meaning. In the example “Now the
night has gone away (Air Supply)” significant meaning is quite clear. Every
word evokes a general idea, a notion without directly referring to any particular
element of reality, the significant meaning and that of the notion coincide.
When a word refers to name, the demonstrative meaning is the individual
existing objects of reality “There was a fine old rocking chair that his father
used to sit in, a desk where he wrote letter, a nest of small table, and a dark
imposing bookcase .”
The meaning of many words is subjected to complex association
originating in habitual contents, verbal or situation, of which the speaker and
the listener are aware, and which form the connotational component of
meaning. In some words the realization of meaning is accompanied by the
speaker’s state of mind and his attitude to what or who he is speaking about.
Within the affection connotational of a word we can distinguish its
capacity to evoke or directly express
_ Emotion: dad father–
_ Evaluation: good excellent–
_ Intensity: adore love–
_ Stylistic colour (social sphere): slay kill–
In conclusion, lexical meaning consists of denotational meaning and
connotational meaning in which denotational meaning comprises significative
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and demonstrative meaning, connotational meaning includes speaker’s emotion,
evaluation, intensify and social sphere.
4. Cultural meaning
Say language means we are saying pride, identity, roots, communication
and all the things that stir the heart. According to President M. Scares of

Portugal, “My country is my language . ” (Lawday,1990, p.30). Each nation has
its own language as long as they borrow or adapt another language as their
second language. All the language (native and foreign languages), always
convey cultural characteristics. It is the basic cultural factor that distinguishes
this country from other. In other words, we can realize this country from other
via understanding and using cultural meaning of words.
Consider the word “xe ®¹p” or “bicycle” in Vietnamese and English as
an example we will know the different cultural meaning between them.
Generally speaking, the Vietnamese word “xe ®¹p” and the English word
bicycle“ ” are the same meaning which refer to a vehicle using human strength
to move. However, in the terms of culture, the words in two languages are not
the same.
First is the cultural meaning, to the Vietnamese “xe ®¹p”, which was
imported first from France, is a quite new vehicle. So, whenever think about it,
they imagine a vehicle used by feet movements so-called “xe ®¹p”. Meanwhile,
the English name it is “bicycle” according to its feature (“bi” means “hai”,
“cycle” means “b¸nh xe”).
Second is the usage. If the English travel by bicycle or horse, they say
“you ride (on) a bicycle” or “you ride (on) a horse”. Obviously, English
people take for granted that there is no difference between the action “ride on a
bicycle” and “ride on a horse”. To Vietnamese on their part “xe ®¹p” is also a
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transport means used to carry (®Ìo, lai) men or goods. People call bicycle is “xe
®¹p thå” or “xe thå” if it is used to carry goods. And, of course, the word ride
(®i or ®¹p) does not go with this vehicle but the word push“ ”.
Third is structure. The English regard bicycle as an entertainment or
practice means, so it is made for one user and light luggage. In contrast,
Vietnamese people pay attention to endurability than style.
In conclusion, understanding the word “xe ®¹p” or “bicycle” in

Vietnamese and English is rather different because it bases on some words
“®¹p, ®i (ride); ®Ìo, lai, thå (carry), ®Èy (push)”. Through the example, it is
states that people can communicate with each other not only via literal meaning
but also hidden- intention meaning. Thus, it is necessary to deeply understand
cultural meaning of speech, words to communicate well.
5. Lexical and semantic field of words
Many linguists have given out their own definition about lexical and
semantic field of words, and J. Trier is one of them. He defines that “fields are
linguistic realities existing between single words and the total vocabulary;
they are parts of a whole and resemble words in that they combine into some
higher unit, and the vocabulary in that they resolve themselves into smaller
units”. However, Trier’s most important shortcoming is his idealistic
methodology. He regards language as a super-individual cultural product
shaping concepts and the whole knowledge of the world. His idea about the
influence of language upon thought, and the existence of an “intermediate
universe” of concepts interposed between man and the universe, is wholly
untenable.
Over the time, linguists have shown that a lexical field of words or
lexical and semantic field of words is the whole words can be classified into
sets according to their meaning.
The following set of words is a lexical field, because all the words in the
set refer to emotional states:
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Angry, sad, happy, exuberant, depressed, afraid.
In a lexical field, not all lexical items necessarily have the same status.
Consider the following sets, which together form the lexical field of color terms
(of course there are other terms in the same field)
(a) Blue, red, yellow, green, black, purple
(b) Indigo, saffron, royal blue, aquamarine, bisque.

The colors referred to by the words of set (a) are more usual than those
described in set (b). These colors are said to be less marked than the second set;
therefore the words in set (a) are less marked members of the lexical field will
usually be easier to learn and remember than more marked members, people
learn the term “blue” before they learn the terms “indigo, royal blue or
aquamarine”. Typically, a less marked word consists of only one morpheme, in
contrast to more marked words (contrast “blue” and “royal blue”). The less
marked member of a lexical field cannot be described by using the name of
another member of the same field, while more marked members can be thus
described ( indigo“ ” is a kind of “purple”). Less marked terms also tend to be
used more frequently than more marked terms; “blue”, for example, occurs
considerably more frequently in conversation and writing than either “indigo”
or “aquamarine”. Less marked terms also are often broader in meaning than
more marked terms; “blue” describes a broader range of colors than “indigo” or
“aquamarine”. Finally, less marked words are not the result of the metaphorical
usage of the name of another object or concept, whereas more marked words
often are (for example, “saffron” is the color of a spice that gave its name to the
color).
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CHAPTER II CULTURAL AND LINGUISTIC
ANALYSIS OF THE ENGLISH WORD “MEAL“
1. Definition
In order to be analysed under the lexical or linguistic view, every word
itself has to satisfy existential condition of a word first a word is an“
independent unit of language which embodies a notion in all its forms and
meaning taken as a whole”. And the word “meal” is not an exception. The
word “meal” is a unit of language used for the purpose of human
communication (under the linguist and culture point), possessing a meaning.
There are several definitions of the word “meal”. According to Oxford

Word Powder Dictionary “meal” means “a certain time when you eat or the
food that is eaten at that time”.
Similar to Oxford Word Powder Dictionary, Dai Tu Dien Vietnam
(Vietnamese great dictionary) defines that “meal” is the whole food is eaten in
one time.
In Oxford Advanced Learner Dictionary, “meal” is the portion of food
taken or provided at one time to satisfy appetite.
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Also, according to KP BCKA . E in“5 everyday topics in English” in
Russia “we partake of food several times a day. This partaking of food at a
certain time is called meal”.
Generally speaking, all the above definitions define quite clearly about
the word “meal”. However, in this graduation paper, we would like to use the
word “meal” in accordance with the definition in Oxford Word Powder
Dictionary and Vietnamese Great Dictionary. Besides, we would like to analyse
the word “meal” and elements relating to it such as eating and drinking in
which each element has sub-elements relating to it:
(a) eating: meals, meal time, food, table ware, eating place…
(b) drinking: tea, alcohol, beer, pubs, bars….
All these elements connected with the notion of “meal” are called field of word
“meal”.
In our opinion, field of word “meal” is all the words relating to it mainly
including eating and drinking. They are parts of the word “meal” and resemble
words in that they combine together. To illustrate in an easy way, we would like
to list field of word “meal” in English and Vietnamese equivalents according to
its meaning and function as follow:
2. Field of word “meal“ in English and words relating to it (in
contrast with Vietnamese equivalents)
English Vietnamese

2.1Name of meals
2.1.1 Breakfast
2.1.1 Lunch / luncheon
2.1.2 Tea time
2.1.2.1 High tea
2.1.2.2 Afternoon tea
2.1.3 Dinner
2.1.4 Supper
2.1 Tªn c¸c b÷a ¨n (name of meals)
2.1.1 B÷a (¨n) s¸ng, b÷a ®iÓm t©m
(morning meal)
2.1.2 B÷a (¨n) tra, (b÷a) c¬m tra
(afternoon meal)
2.1.3 B÷a (¨n tèi), (b÷a) c¬m tèi (evening
meal)
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2.2 Parts of meal
2.2.1 Starter
2.2.2 Main course
2.2.3 Dessert
2.2 Các phần bữa ăn (parts of meal)
món chính (main dish)
2.3 Drinks
2.3.1 Tea
2.3.2 Alcohol
2.3.3 Beer
2.3.4 Coffee
2.3.5 Soft drink
2.3 Đồ uống, thức uống (drinks)

2.3.1 Chè / trà (tea)
2.3.2 Rợu (alcohol)
2.3.3 Bia (beer)
2.3.4 Cà phê (coffee)
2.3.5 Đồ uống nhẹ (soft drink)
2.4 Eating means
2.4.1 Table ware: spoon, knife,
fork
2.4.2 Food and drink containers:
plates, wine-glasses
2.4.3 Ingredients: the salt-cellar,
the pepper-box, mustard-
pot
2.4.4 Cooker : pan of soup
2.4.5 Other means: table, table
cloth, napkin / serviette
2.4 Phơng tiện ăn uống (eating
means)
2.4.1 Dụng cụ vận chuyển đa thức ăn
(table ware):
Đũa cả (đũa cái) (biggest
chopsticks)
Đũa cá nhân (small chopsticks)
Muôi múc canh (spoon for taking
soup)
2.4.2 Vật dụng đựng thức ăn đồ uống
(food and drink containers):
Bát ăn cơm (bowl for rice)
Bát canh (bowl for soup)
Bát nớc mắm (small bowl for fish

sauce)
Đĩa thức ăn (food plate)
Mâm cơm (food tray)
Chén (china/ porcelain cup)
Cốc (glass)
2.4.3 Gia vị (Ingredients):
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Chanh, muối, ớt, hạt tiêu, nớc
mắm, dấm, mắm tôm (lemon, salt, chili
pepper, fish sauce, vinegar, shrimp paste)
2.4.4 Dụng cụ nấu nớng (cookers)
Nồi cơm, nồi canh, nồi thức ăn
(pan for rice/ soup/ meat/ fish)
2.4.5 Dụng cụ làm vệ sinh sau khi ăn
(cleaning means after eating)
Tăm (tooth-pick)
2.4.6 Các phơng tiện khác (other
means):
Chiếu hoa (adornment mat)
Phản (trestle-bed)
Rế (cooking-pot holder)
2.5 Eating places
2.5.1 In- door: living room
2.5.2 Out- door
2.5.2.1 Restaurants
2.5.2.2 Pubs and bars
2.5.2.3 Take-away/ fast food
outlets
2.5 Nơi ăn uống (eating places)

2.5.1 Ăn trong nhà (in- door)
2.5.1.1 Nhà bếp (kitchen)
2.5.1.2 Phòng khách (living room)
2.5.1.3 Hiên / hè (veranda)
2.5.2 Ăn ở bên ngoài (out- door)
2.5.2.1 Nhà hàng (restaurants)
2.5.2.2 Trên phố (streets)
2.5.2.3 Chợ (markets)
2.5.2.4 Quán bar (pubs and bars)
2.6 Etiquette 2.6 Nghi thức ăn uống (etiquette)
2.6.1 Trớc khi ăn (pre-eating)
2.6.1 Trong khi ăn (while-eating)
2.6.3 Sau khi ăn (post-eating)
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3. Cultural and linguistic analysis of the English word meal
3.1. Name of meals
Descended from nomad culture, the English life mainly attaches to
meadow and cattle. And their food source is almost meat. Meat is a dispensable
dish on eating table though it is made under any form. Therefore, the English
not only call meal food that is eaten at a certain time, but also meat course.
We can illustrate an English meal as follow:
Meal = meat course = meat + other dishes.
3.1.1. Breakfast
Not similar to many countries, the English like drinking tea so much that
they take tea time as a landmark to divide a day into three meals: breakfast,
lunch and dinner and other sub-meals.
Breakfast refers to a meal which takes place in the morning. In terms of
word creation, word breakfast actually is a combination between two
separated verb break and fast. Break means phá vỡ or làm gãy.

Fast means nhịn ăn or ăn kiêng. Not knowing when these verbs were
combined into one word with the meaning phá vỡ sự ăn kiêng or chặt đứt sự
ăn kiêng or ăn sángor bữa điểm tâm, but today this word is used to call
name of a meal in the morning.
To the English, breakfast is the most important meal in a day because it
provides energy for the body to start a new day. Therefore, English breakfast is
generally bigger meal than others.
The breakfast is usually eaten between 7and 9 a.m. Many English people
eat toast with butter or butter and jam (often strawberry, raspberry, apricot or
black currant jam), marmalade (a type of jam made from oranges). Others eat a
bowl of cereal; for example cornflakes or muesli with milk, or porridge (a
mixture of oats, hot milk and sugar).
English people have two tendencies to breakfast: a traditional breakfast
and a continental breakfast.
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Twenty years ago half the population still ate a cooked breakfast or a fry-
up everyday called traditional breakfast. Now less than 20% does so. A
traditional English breakfast may contain food such as meat, kippers (herring- a
type of fish- which has been covered in salt and smoked, potatoes, flour, butter
and eggs). "Harry s mouth fell open. The dishes in front of him were now’
piled with food. He had never seen so many things he likes to eat on the table:
roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, yorkshire pudding,
peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup……(Rowling, 2003, p.121). Besides, English
people have continental breakfast which is a small meal and easy to prepare: a
bread roll or croissant with cheese or ham and a cup of coffee. And the most
common drinks at this time of day are orange juice or a cup of breakfast tea or
coffee.
Most people at home do not have a full breakfast according to traditional
breakfast as well as conditional breakfast. They often have cereal or porridge,

egg and bacon followed by toast and marmalade and coffee and tea or they may
just have a toast and marmalade and coffee and tea.
*Elevenses - brunch
Elevenses is a slang term used for a mid- morning (around 11 o’clock)
snack of coffee or tea and biscuit or perhaps a scone and butter. In fact, people
drink tea or coffee whenever they feel like it. If a meal is eaten in the late
morning instead of both breakfast and lunch it is called brunch“ ” (technique of
creating new words called “portmanteau”).
3.1.2. Lunch (sometimes called more formally “ luncheon“)
Lunch (b÷a tra) is a meal eaten in the middle of the day between 12 and
2p.m. Many people eat sandwiches (also known as a butty or sarine in some
parts of the UK) or cakes, fruit, coffee and tea. Some people have a simple meal
such as cheese and biscuits or soup and bread.
In countryside, a ploughman’s lunch is a traditional lunch for farmers: a
bread roll, Cheddar cheese, Branston pickle and salad, perhaps with a pork pie.
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It is also traditional fro people to go to pubs with some friends for a pub lunch
and a drink.
Many people who work in London have to make arrangements for their
midday meal as they work far from home. Most large companies have a canteen
in which food served is plain but adequate for their employees. The workers can
find a lunch for themselves. A meal in canteen is inexpensive and may consist
of soup, fish and chips or meat and two vegetables with fruit or a pudding of
some sort as dessert. The employees can choice whatever they like. If they do
not want they can have a lunch in a numerous cafes and restaurants. Depending
on the restaurants and food chosen, a meal may cost anything from a modest
sum to quite a few pounds. Furthermore, people can get a meal or a snack in a
pub or in cafe. In many cafes, there are no waiters or waitress and instead the
customers help themselves and pay at cash- desks before going to the tables.

Some people do not bother to go out to lunch. They will have a “packed
lunch”- this typically consists of a packet of crips, a piece of fruit and a drink
and with which they also have a cup of tea or coffee, probably made in the
office. The “packed lunch” is kept in a plastic container. This way is not only
cheap but also convenient than getting to a restaurant and queuing up there. In
summer, park and public squares are popular places where people sit on bench
or on ground, eating their lunch, giving the crumbs to the sparrow and pigeons.
3.1.3. Tea time
Drinking tea is English traditional custom. It is said that seven cups of“
it wake you up in the morning, nine cups will put you to sleep at night .” So,
the English have much time in a day to enjoy tea. For instance, right waking up,
they have a cup of tea with biscuit in bed. It is called early morning tea.
Tea time is the time used to drink tea. It often starts about 3.00.
3.1.3.1. High tea
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High time (b÷a ¨n mÆn) originated as a Britain working class tradition.
High“ ” refers to the way it was taken, sitting on top stools in a tea shop or
standing at a counter or buffet table (“Sunflower”, 2002). High tea traditionally
takes place at 4 o’clock tea. At that time people often have a meal with
sandwiches, scones, butter and jam and cake with a pot of tea.
3.1.3.2. Afternoon tea
The tradition of afternoon tea goes many years to the late 1700s. In
England at that time, there were two main daily meals, breakfast and dinner.
Dinner was served very late in the evening, so it was a very long time between
meals. The Duchess of Bedford (1788-1861) complained about “sinking
feeling” in the late afternoon. Afternoon tea was her invention to keep her going
until dinner. She would invite friends to join her tea at 5p.m. Other hostess
quickly copied her idea. Food at tea included such things as thin crustless,
sandwiches, shrimp or fish pate, toasted breads with jams and regional pasties

such as scones and crumpets (Riddell, 1995, p.221).
Now afternoon tea is used broadly in England, but most British families
do not have time for afternoon tea at home. They often have it on pub or bar.
Actually, English people enjoy tea time as it is civilized thing to do. The
tradition of afternoon tea offers a pleasant break in the day, a chance for
conversation, relaxation and, of course, a good cup of tea.
3.1.4. Dinner
Dinner (b÷a tèi) refers to the main meal of the day taking in the evening
about 7-10 p.m. It usually consists of soup or hors d’oeuvres, fish, meat and
vegetables, dessert, cheese, biscuits and tea or coffee. Sometimes, people call
dinner is lunch or supper if it is the main meal that is taken place in the midday.
In many homes, dinner may be the only time everyone gets together and
shares the day’s experience. It is also an occasion for inviting friends.
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3.1.5. Supper
Supper means “b÷a ¨n ®ªm” or “b÷a ¨n nhÑ vµo buæi tèi” is the most
common name for a light snack taken before going to bed. People often drink a
glass of mild and a sandwich.
3.1.6. Parts of meal
Basically, English meals and meal time are quite clear. Even name of
courses are also: starter, main course/ meat course and dessert. Actually,
English name of courses are affected strongly by nomad culture in which the
English life is inclined to movement than sereneness. Especially, in the terms of
cognition and community, they are on the side of analysis thought and
personality. It is the reason why a meal is divided into three courses and each
person has their own portion.
Starter (mãn khai vÞ) known as soup or hors d’oeuvre is a meal that is
often severed at the beginning of a meal in order to stimulate appetite of eaters.
And people enjoy it before the next courses.

Next to starter is main course (mãn chÝnh). There are dishes served one
after one. English people sometimes call main course is meat course“ ” (mãn ¨n
víi thÞt lµ chñ yÕu). “Meat course” itself shows that meat takes an important
role in English meal because Western countries in general and England in
particular descended from pastoral civilizations in which meat is their staple.
So, main course is named after meat. A typical main course or meat course
often has some dishes as follow: roast beef, roast chicken with sausages, roast
pork with apple sauce, steak and kidney peas or roast lamb with mint sauce.
The last course of a meal is dessert (mãn tr¸ng miÖng). Dessert are fruit,
sweet, cake, cheese, tea or coffee which are eaten to wash away food smell. As
majority editable things in dessert are sweets, so it is called “sweet course”.
Moreover, English country is famous for many kinds of pudding cakes: rice
pudding, bread and butter pudding, steamed pudding, suet pudding and
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Christmas pudding. May be it is the reason why the word pudding“ ” is referred
to dessert course.
3.2. Drinks
It is natural that eating is a vital part to human beings. But eating without
drinking will not satisfy men’s demand. In this part we would like to introduce
what the English often drink.
3.2.1. Tea
There is a saying that “the British like a nice cup of tea in the morning
and a nice cup of tea at night. And at half past seven, their idea of heaven is a
nice cup of tea. They like a nice cup of tea with their dinner and a nice cup of
tea with their tea, and before they go to bed” (“Weaving it together 3”, 2000).
It seems that no one likes tea quite as much as the British do.
As, in fact, tea is popular in countries around the world. Each country has
its own ritual and custom for drinking tea and so do the British. The British like
to be formal and well-mannered when they serve tea. The people here favor the

black tea of India and Ceylon served in china cups with handles and matching
saucers. In Britain, tea is made in a pot, using one teaspoonful of tea leaves for
each cup plus one extra teaspoonful for the pot. Boiling water is poured into the
pot and the tea is left for about five minutes before the host serves the guest.
Even there are the adages from the side of the Victorian about making tea:
“Those who love good tea
Must please remember me
Be sure allow the water to boil
Then the tea you will not spoil”.
Or Do not drain the pot dry and then fill it up again, fill half the cups at a“
time and replace in the teapot the water you have taken from it, always with
boiling water .”
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Drinking tea is an important part of daily life in England. The average
number of cups of tea each day is 3.6, though some people drink as many as 10
cups a day (“Life in Britain”, 1990). To English drinking tea is a way to relax
and entertain. Sharing a cup of tea with guests provides an opportunity for
conversation and a quiet moment away from the normal hustle and bustle.
3.2.2. Alcohol/wine
Both alcohol and wine are excited drinks in which alcohol (in full ethyl
alcohol) is a colourless volatile inflammable liquid forming the intoxicating
element in wine, beer, spirit, and wine is a fermented drink made from other
fruits.
Besides, spirit is known as a kind of intoxicated drinks but its
concentration is very high. Although alcohol, wine and spirit are little different
from each other, people often call them alcohol. Even the words “drink” and
“drinking” also refer to alcohol. For example, “She drinks too much”, means
“She drinks more alcohol than she can”. Or “He has a drink problem”, means
“that he can’t give up drinking alcohol than is good for him”.

Drinking wine is favourite in England, so the consumption increases
every year. Sometimes, the quantity produced is never likely to satisfy the
growing British thirst. Thus, most of the wine drunk in Britain is imported from
France, Spain, Italy and Germany. Although the high taxes make wine and
spirits expensive, the British drink twice as much as they did. Whisky is the
most favorite of the spirits in Britain. It is, of course, the national drink of
Scotland, and “Scotch” is exported to the rest of the world.
3.2.3. Other drinks
As well as large amounts of hot drinks such as tea, coffee and coca-cola,
British people especially children drink squash (a sweeter fruit concentrate that
has to be diluted with water) and brand- name soft (non- alcoholic) drinks. They
also expect to be able to drink water straight from the tap.
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Beer has been the favorite drink of the British since the early 1600s. Most
beer is done in pubs. Traditionally, beer is drawn from the cellar up to the bar of
the pub to be served to the customer as draught beer. Draught beer is “still”,
which means that it is fizzy.
A sweeter, darker version of bitter is “mild”. These beers have a
comparatively low alcohol content. This is one reason why people are able to
drink so much of them. In most pubs, several kinds of bottled beer, usually
known as ales“ ” are also available.
Beer which has gas in it and is closer to continental varieties is known as
“lager”. During the 1980s strong lager became common among young people.
Because these people were used to drink weaker traditional beer, they
sometimes drank too much of it and became aggressive and even violent. They
thus became known as “lager louts” (O’dricoll, 1985, p. 187).
In some pubs, cider is available on draught and in some parts of Britain.
Shandy is half beer and half fizzy lemonade. It has the reputation of being very
good for quenching the thirst.

3.3. Table ware
In the dawn of time, people used fingers to transport food to mouth. This
action must not have changed if people had not invented devices eating so-
called table ware (dông cô ¨n uèng) including knife, fork and spoon.
Knife (dao) is a hand tool for cutting things into pieces or scorting in
something without actually cutting through it.
Fork (nÜa) is also a hand tool used for transporting things. Small forks are
used to move other things, to break-up clods of soil or to rake weed. Here, I
would like to deal mostly with the small, food-moving kind.
Spoon is a utensil consisting of an oval or round bowl and a handle for
conveying food to the mouth and for stirring.
Actually, English people use knife during their meals as majority food
like meat, potatoes… are often cooked in big pieces. So, they have to cut them
into small pieces while eating. A long with knife is fork which is an imitative
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form of a working tool called “bå cµo” or rake. And spoon is used to spoon
soup or transport food to the mouth.
It is not clear to predict in what year or where this table ware was
invented. But people say that the first Northern of Italy used it to eat their
famous noodle. Then this set was brought to France and was quick introduced
to English. No matter what where it was from, these utensils are estimated as a
product of analytical mind, a represent of the nomad culture in which people are
inclined to invention, analysis and role of personality. May be it is the reason
why each term has its own separated function.
3.4. Out- door eating
For English people ultimate in easy eating is eating out and the English
do that everyday.
3.4.1. Restaurants
Though it is not common than it used to be, going to a restaurant is not a

usual habit of most people here. As majority English original restaurants are
very expensive; especially, food is a real problem there. However, the English
like going to restaurants owned by Vietnamese, Chinese, Indian or French
immigrants because there are strange dishes that they are never served. These
restaurants range from inexpensive fast-food places, to exotic ethic restaurants,
to expensive, formal places that serve elegant food in elegant setting. Thus, for
many English, ethic dinning means fun since these places serve immigrants
who want their own native cuisine, but they also serve English looking for a
dining adventure.
3.4.2. Pubs and bars
Pubs and bars are common places for English people. They come there to
drink, to talk and to relax.
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The word pub“ ” is an abbreviation of public house“ ”. It is the only
indoor place where any stranger can come in and chat to a few local friends.
As with so many other aspects of English life, pubs have become a bit
less distinctive in the last quarter of the twentieth century. They used to serve
almost nothing but beer and spirit. These days, people can get wine, coffee and
some hot food at most of them as well. This has helped to widen their appeal.
At one time, it was unusually for women to go to pubs. Now a few pubs exit
where it is surprising for a woman to walk in.
There are some features of pubs are time and the difference between
pubs and bars. The first is that pubs have strictly limited hours of opening,
which vary in length in different areas, each local government authority having
power to fix its own “licensing hours” as they are called. Roughly one person
may expect to find a pub open between 11.30 a.m and 2.30 p.m and again from
5.30 p.m until 10.30 p.m. Thus, it is impossible to get strong drink in English
in the early morning, in the middle of the afternoon or at midnight or later. The
second is that most pubs are divided into at least two separated bars: public bar

and the saloon bar. The English like showing off when they go out for a drink
and whereas the poorest customers go into the public bar, they go into the
saloon bar. The differences between the two are that the saloon bar is less
uncomfortable, it has chairs and linoleum, in contrast the public bar has wooden
benches and perhaps a floor sprinkled with sawdust and the beer costs a penny
or two more in the saloon bar than the public bars.
3.4.3. Take-away / fast food outlet
Apart from pubs and bars, there are two types which are quite cheap.
One is used during the day, most typically by manual workers, and therefore
sometimes is described as a workman s cafes“ ’ ”. But it is used by anybody who
wants a filling meal, likes the informal atmosphere and is not over- worried
about cleanliness. It offers chiefly fried food of the “English breakfast” and it is
called humorously as a “greasy spoon”. Majority of them are “transport cafes”
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