Common American Phrases in Everyday Contexts (32 page)

Definitely
!
AND
Certainly
!
Yes, of course!
B
ILL
: Will you be there Saturday? M
ARY
: Definitely!
S
UE
: Would you be so kind as to carry this up the stairs? B
ILL
: Certainly!

Definitely not
!
AND
Certainly not
!
No, without any doubt at all. (Compare to Absolutely not!)
B
ILL
: Will you lend me some money? B
OB
: No way! Definitely not!
B
OB
: Have you ever stolen anything? F
RED
: Certainly not!

Delighted to have you
.
Go to (I'm) delighted to have you (here).

Delighted to make your acquaintance
.
Go to (I'm) delighted to make your acquaintance.

did you hear?
Go to have you heard?

Did you order all this
weather
?
Are you responsible for this weather? (A jocular way of starting a conversation. No assumption of causality. The
weather
can be more specific, such as
rain, sun, heat, cold, snow
, etc.)
D
ON
: How's it going? Hey, Andy, did you order all this snow? A
NDY
: Sure, Don, I do snow in the winter and rain in the fall
.
Hello, friend. Nice day, isn't it? Did you order all this sunshine?

Dig in
!
Please start eating your meal (heartily).
When we were all seated at the table, Grandfather said, “Dig in!” and we all did
.
S
UE
: Sit down, everybody. B
OB
: Wow, this stuff looks good! A
LICE
: It sure does. S
UE
: Dig in!

Dig up
!
Listen carefully! (Slang.)
J
OHN
: All right, you guys! Dig up! You're going to hear this one time and one time only! B
ILL
: Get quiet, you guys!
B
ILL
: Dig up! I'm only going to say this once. B
OB
: What was that? B
ILL
: I said listen!

Dinner is served
.
It is time to eat dinner. Please come to the table. (Formal, as if announced by a butler.)
S
UE
: Dinner is served. M
ARY
(aside): Aren't we fancy tonight?
“Dinner is served,” said Bob, rather formally for a barbecue.