Summary 

Rob is hard at work making a batch of tasty waffles. But Feifei notices that he tends to ‘waffle on’ quite a lot. How do you use this phrase? And how will the waffles turn out? Listen to the programme to find out.

Transcript

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. 

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. 

[‘Ping’ sound of a microwave] 

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.