Katie opens by telling Clare this is probably bad timing: Clare has just said she’s hungry. “Yes, I’m always hungry,” she replies, and then spends the next few minutes guessing food idioms anyway. She gets the breadwinner almost instantly, works out the bacon one by asking “Ah! Is this about bacon?”, and very nearly says the rude version of a piece of cake before Katie heads her off. It’s a guessing game, and you play along at home.
What you’ll hear in this episode
Two unscripted conversations, both built the same way: Katie describes a meaning, the other person has to produce the expression.
In the first, with Clare, the theme starts with money — the breadwinner, then to bring home the bacon. They discuss who traditionally held that role and how that has changed, and agree that “we probably wouldn’t usually use those both in one sentence”. Then comes the near-miss: Clare is about to offer “A piece of piss”, Katie steers her to a piece of cake, and they use it in examples about exams and driving tests — including one speaker admitting they failed their first test, so no, it wasn’t a piece of cake. A big cheese arrives quickly, though nobody can explain the cheese: “why we use cheese, I don’t really know.” Out to lunch is the one Clare doesn’t know at all — “I’ve…I’ve not… heard this expression before” — and she offers her own version instead: “He’s a sandwich short of a picnic.”
The second half begins with Katie saying “Here we are in your flat.” Tom works out as much use as a chocolate teapot by reasoning through what happens when you pour boiling water into chocolate. He also tells a small lie about horror films not being his cup of tea, then immediately confesses: “They are actually.” Katie’s verdict: “You just lied.” They finish with chalk and cheese, peas in a pod and chewing the fat — which, as Tom puts it, means “Talking about life, the universe and everything.”
Quick facts
| Episode | Zapp! English Colloquial 2.16 – Food (& Ingredients) |
| Pack | Colloquial 2 |
| Level | 2 |
| Duration | 19 minutes 47 seconds |
| Voices | Katie, with Clare and Tom |
| Expressions taught | 10 |
| Recorded | in a flat, as mentioned on air |
| Workbook | included in the all-in-one pack |
What you’ll learn
Ten food idioms, but more usefully: how native speakers negotiate an idiom in real time. Notice how often the expression arrives in pieces. Katie says “as much use…as…” and Tom repeats the fragment back — “As…As much use as…” — before the last word appears. That half-finished, handed-over sentence is completely normal in speech, and if you’re waiting for whole tidy sentences you’ll miss most of it.
You’ll also hear how idioms get hedged and qualified. Katie flags a piece of piss as “very impolite” but “very common”, which is a distinction you need before you use it. She and Tom both suspect chew the fat is American; the workbook glossary meanwhile grades each expression 1 to 3 for how informal it is. And not my cup of tea is labelled in the recording itself as “a very British English expression”.
The Meaning and Pronunciation tasks then turn all of this into production practice: you hear a definition, you supply the expression, and you repeat it after the beep inside a full example sentence — “More women are becoming the breadwinner these days”, “Her father is a big cheese in the company”. Definition first, expression second, sentence third, which is the order that makes an idiom stick.
The ten expressions
Straight from the workbook glossary, with its own informality ratings:
- to bring home the bacon (2) – to earn money for your family — Clare’s second guess
- the breadwinner (1) – the person who earns the main money to support the family
- a piece of cake (1) – very easy — the exam and driving-test examples
- a big cheese (1) – an important person, with a lot of power
- out to lunch (2) – acting a bit strangely, maybe in a dream, doesn’t know what’s happening
- as much use as a chocolate teapot (2) – useless — the melting teapot
- like chalk and cheese (1) – used to describe two people who are very different
- like peas in a pod (1) – used to describe people who are very similar
- to chew the fat (2) – to pass time by talking about nothing important or particular
- not someone’s cup of tea (1) – not the kind of thing someone likes
In the workbook
The workbook for this unit contains the full transcript of both conversations, so you can go back and see exactly where Clare hesitates and where Tom pieces an expression together. Alongside it you get the graded glossary above — the 1, 2, 3 system tells you what’s safe with most people and what you should keep for close friends.
Then two practice exercises. Practice Exercise 1 gives you six plain sentences to rewrite using an idiom from the unit: “He’s a very important person in the company”, “She’s useless!”, “They are exactly the same”. Practice Exercise 2 is word-order work — you’re given jumbled words like chewing / We / the / were / fat and have to build the sentence, which forces you to get the grammar around the idiom right, not just the idiom. Full answers are provided at the back.
This workbook comes with the complete Zapp! English pack: every episode, every transcript and every exercise, €39 for the lot.
Common questions
Are these conversations scripted?
No. The conversations with Clare and Tom are unscripted — that’s why Clare doesn’t know out to lunch and Tom contradicts himself about horror films. The teaching sections that set up the tasks and give the answers are scripted, so the instructions stay clear.
What level is this episode?
Level 2 of the Colloquial series. You’ll cope best if you can already follow a conversation between two native speakers at natural speed.
Do I need the workbook to use the audio?
No, the audio works on its own. The workbook adds the transcript, the graded glossary and the two written exercises with answers.
Can I use all ten expressions at work?
Check the glossary ratings first. Most are marked 1, meaning they’re fine in most situations, but bring home the bacon, out to lunch, chocolate teapot and chew the fat are marked 2 — better with people you know well.
Which expressions are British?
Not my cup of tea is described in the recording as a very British English expression, while Katie and Tom both suspect chew the fat is more American — though Tom confirms you do hear it.
Get this episode
To save the audio, right-click the MP3 link and choose Save link as.
Listen on
Download all the ebooks & audios for level 2 (intermediate)
Get immediate access to all 84 real English audio classes and ebooks (with transcripts, vocabulary + exercises) with the Zapp! English Level 2 Superpack, available now. You'll also get some FREE extras!
Learn more