Waffle on: The English We Speak - YouTube

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.