Jiaying Hello and welcome to The English We Speak. I’m Jiaying…
Neil …and hello, it’s me, Neil. Jiaying – why are there olives everywhere?
Jiaying Well I bought a jar of olives and they tasted so amazing. So, I went back to the shop and I bought a lot of olives! They’re so moreish!
Neil More? What do you mean ‘more’? I can see there’s more than normal here – Jiaying, this is ridiculous – there are olives all over my keyboard and seat!
Jiaying I didn’t say ‘more’ – I said ‘moreish’. We use this word to say that something tastes so good, that you just want to eat more and more. I would offer to share them with you, but they’re so moreish that I want to eat them all!
Neil First of all, no thanks – I hate olives. Secondly – we need to tidy up! Thirdly, your example of ‘moreish’ makes sense. So, are you going to help me clean up?
Jiaying I would but I’m too busy eating these olives. Have I mentioned they’re moreish?
Neil Only about a thousand times. Seriously, our boss is coming so we need to start cleaning.
Jiaying OK OK – I’ll put the olives down and help you clean! We can do that while we listen to these examples.
Examples That spicy sauce is so moreish – it makes everything taste better!
Have you tried that cake? It’s really moreish.
I need to avoid those moreish sweets! I’m on a diet.
Jiaying You’re listening to The English We Speak from BBC Learning English, and we’re talking about the word ‘moreish’. We use ‘moreish’ to say that some food is so tasty that we just want to eat more of it! I can’t believe you don’t like olives!
Neil It’s true – but strangely I like olive oil. I usually find savoury things like peanuts really moreish!
Jiaying Oh wow! Have you tried those new spicy peanuts in the canteen?
Neil Yes! They’re amazing – and what about those really moreish spicy dips that you can use to make your peanuts even spicier?
Jiaying Oh – it’s like a taste explosion! They’re so moreish as a combination!
Neil I’m really hungry now! I think I could eat a bucket full of peanuts!
Jiaying Me too! I’ll race you to the canteen and I’ll eat them all!
Neil Not if I get there first! Oh look, an olive! Bye!
Jiaying Where? There’s no olive – you tricked me! Well done – you win this round of the food wars! Bye, Neil!