regular how to connect at your favorite  restaurant or coffee shop in English

welcome to the all ears English podcast downloaded  more than 200 million times are you feeling stuck  

with your English we'll show you how to become  fearless and fluent by focusing on connection not  

Perfection with your American hosts Lindsay  McMahon the English Adventurer and Michelle  

Kaplan the New York radio girl coming to you from  Colorado and New York City USA and to get your  

transcripts delivered by email every week go to  allearsenglish.com forward slash subscribe [Music]  

when you can walk into a local cafe or restaurant  and people know who you are you feel connected  

today learn two key terms to engage with servers  at your favorite local spot in English [Music]

hey there Michelle how's everything going today  hey good Lindsay how are you awesome fantastic  

what are we getting into today on aller's  English well I have a question do you have  

a favorite coffee place in Denver wow I go for  coffee all the time way too much but yeah there's  

this really cute little coffee shop called Pablo's  in my neighborhood and it's managed to maintain a  

bit of a neighborhood coffee feel so you know  what I mean like a little neighborhood Cafe  

spot you walk in it smells like coffee people are  actually reading they're not necessarily on their  

laptops and staring at a screen oh that's pretty  wow I feel like that's very rare I know it's cool  

it's really cool yeah yeah well do you when you  go there so what's it called again it's called  

Pablos Pablos do you always get the same thing  or do you mix it up or no I mix it up so on the  

weekends sometimes I'll get myself a cappuccino  this is a little treat you know what I mean it's  

a Saturday I'll get a cappuccino but during  the week I usually stick to just black coffee  

you know just black coffee dark roast so yeah  I kind of alternate between two options if you  

go out do you go every day no well so I've got  another place near my house that I'll go to in  

the afternoon when I kind of just need a reset I  just need to get out of the office but I don't go  

every day I go a couple times a week I would  say what about you do you go to coffee shops  

uh no not too much I'm not like so fancy with my  coffee I have to drink I had to have to well not  

I just have to drink it like right first thing  in the morning okay and I'm like yeah um so um  

so you can walk to that place populist yeah yeah  I can um so they might say that you're a regular  

right they would say that yeah I mean they even  know they know my name in there um in the second  

place I mentioned closer to my house and they yeah  or they're starting to I would say get to know my  

name yeah that's kind of cool yeah I love that  I love when there's that neighborhood feel like  

there's a restaurant that I live near and I mean  gosh ever since they opened a couple years ago  

um you know they always say hi to us and like they  just like it's kind of yeah they know us in the  

neighborhood so that's kind of fun that's lovely  yeah yeah um but guys we're gonna talk about this  

more in just a second but um we want you to listen  to episode 1306 which is are you a creature of  

habit because that's kind of some of the stuff  that we're talking about today oh my gosh yes  

I love it we're getting into this idea of being  a regular or something you know the word regular  

right this is so good guys make sure you hit  follow right here on oller's English why should  

they hit follow Michelle well because if you don't  hit follow you might miss something and you don't  

want to miss something you don't want to miss  anything no you can't miss all ears English guys  

we have been podcasting four days a week since  2013. can you believe that Michelle it's insane  

that is insane so yeah well we hope that we have  a lot of regulars who listen to the show I know we  

do I know we have our loyal listeners guys become  a regular become irregular and hit follow on all  

ears English wherever you listen to podcasts  that's awesome so yeah today I wanted to talk  

about some ways to express that you typically do  something um so I mean Lindsay why might this be  

helpful oh my gosh this could be good for talking  to people who work somewhere for example waiters  

waitresses you know now the thing you normally get  make it easier for them make it more fun they know  

what you're used to ordering right that's the idea  this builds the connection at dollars English we  

are all about connection Michelle and this is a  perfect connection episode today I think so too  

because it's also good if you're in the service  industry right so maybe you're a waiter a waitress  

maybe you work in a hotel or I mean well a hotel  I mean I guess it's a little bit different but  

um but it's it's good for talking to customers oh  my gosh yes I've also seen it a lot on movies uh  

in movies right you go you want the regular you  want the usual right what you want your regular  

uh you see there's a lot in movies and it kind  of gives you a feeling of nostalgia small town  

America uh it's just kind of a cool way to connect  with someone by knowing what they usually consume  

right and I think it's good for being able to talk  to people about your routines and to connect with  

others so we're going to talk about all these  things a little bit today um and these two terms  

that we've been already using yeah um to you know  like in different ways than you might be used to  

and more idiomatic or slang ways right rather than  saying like oh you know just the the typical ways  

I love it I love it so what are the two terms that  we're going to show our listeners today what are  

these two words that we're going to focus in on  Michelle okay it's a one is usual that's funny and  

one is regular that sounds like isn't that like  an old comedy routine like I don't know it sounds  

like a joke well no it just sounds like a joke  it's like oh the two terms are one is the usual  

and one is regular and it's like no those are the  two terms it's like those are the terms yeah those  

are the terms right I don't know Michelle you're  the comedian in this year so it just sounds like  

it just sounds like a joke anyway because there  might be some material there there might be some  

material exactly so all right so the usual okay so  this is when you always get the same thing so you  

might say if Lindsay if they know you downstairs  there's you might just say oh I'll have the usual  

yes I'll have the usual meaning my usual right  the thing I normally order right right right right  

right right okay um you could also say the regular  right but I feel like the usual is more common but  

like I do would you could you say like I'll have  the right she'll have the regular yeah I think you  

could say that it's very oh it's very automatic  idiomatic it's very local it's very slangy right  

you may not find it in any dictionary of perfect  grammar but it is what neighbors will say in a  

local cafe or restaurant you know especially in  small town America right and then the next one  

is also the word regular but instead of saying the  regular you might say all regular now I don't mean  

like oh like a regular size or a regular and now  that oh my gosh don't you hate that when you say  

the same word over and over and like you forget  what it means yeah it's losing that's meaning  

um so if you say a regular yes what's that a  person who comes often to a place for example you  

know he's a regular here he loves our chocolate  muffins it could be that person comes to that  

Cafe all the time there's a a like neighborhood  kind of dive bar around the corner from my house  

called The Wild Corgi uh and they do trivia  nights they do like local celebrations you know  

festivals we're kind of regulars there I would  say so oh that's good that's nice that's nice  

um yeah so that's really about the person so you  could say uh that yeah you could say wear regulars  

or I'm a regular I'm a regular wear regulars and  you know to be honest yeah I just feel like well  

at least here in Denver a lot of local places  are kind of shutting down post pandemic and  

these you know bigger brands are coming in or name  brands change that kind of thing so it's more and  

more important to become a regular somewhere  and connect with your community right right  

that's true yeah um so I mean I feel like this is  more and this is important to express I feel like  

you know it's more interesting and flow it flows  much nicer than saying like oh I want what I  

usually get oh yeah you can't say anyone say that  words I want what I usually get or I want what I  

always get like that just sounds funny or I mean  or if I mean or I don't know I feel like yeah you  

might see it in the movies a lot like I don't  know Lindsay I'm imagining you you walking into  

your coffee shop and and you go in and you'll  say like I'll have and somebody might say the  

regular and you'll say yeah you got it you know I  think that happened to me once actually and it's  

such a cool feeling I'm not gonna lie I mean  Guys these are the moments of our lives these  

are the moments of connection it might seem  like a trivial thing but you know especially  

if you work online from home and a lot of us do  now or we don't necessarily see our co-workers  

um any moment of connection is really nice  right so this is how you guys can get that  

moment of connection right don't stumble over  your words by saying I want what I usually get  

it takes too much you know too many chances for  making mistake there and getting getting all  

tongue twisted right right or just I mean or just  repeating your order every time right that's just

well when you can say oh I'll have the usual  you know that's kind of awesome or if they  

even pick on if they say oh I'll have and then  they say oh the regular Lindsay you know yeah  

yeah that's right yeah for sure I love that I  love it and then of course if you're ordering  

in Boston you know don't expect don't be  surprised if the waiter or waitress says  

to you you want your regular right you're  right how was that oh is that how it is  

it's just the Boston accent I was just there  so just got that in my mind in my heart yeah  

um yeah so again I mean let's get to another  couple examples so one is let's say I'm telling  

a story I'm not even ordering but I'm telling you  story because this is another connection point  

just like to share you know a little bit about  your life so if I say so I was at Starbucks and  

I got the usual I'm telling you their matcha latte  is amazing anyway blah blah blah so will you have  

the usual oh that was hard for me to say what do  you have what do you have right yes so those are  

two separate examples of like how you might  how you might use it um oh I thought we were  

doing a role play sorry I know I really I know I  know I know I realized that that did seem like a  

role play but those were two separate examples  got it got it okay well all right so hopefully  

our listeners heard that okay and we're good to go  uh so we can keep going with the episode Michelle  

let's keep Let's Do It um well I already asked you  this I said are you a regular anywhere I mean also  

Orange Theory right sure yeah exactly and yeah  yeah it's not just our local cafe or restaurant  

or bar dive bar right it could be a workout place  or could what else could it be Michelle I mean  

where else could you be a regular where else  could you be able hmm that's a good question  

um well I mean I mean would you say like okay like  your local pharmacy I mean I feel like I wouldn't  

like I mean the CVS near me I mean I feel like I  know I know the pharmacists um I literally like  

I even like I I just know them like what's that  okay all right well yeah I mean sure so you're  

regular there you may not see you know yeah you  want to say that about like you're a regular at  

a doctor's office in some ways as well but you  wouldn't say it like I feel like this is more for  

food drink gym it really it's there's not the same  level of Joy right coming into CVS and picking up  

your meds or well well it depends on how bad you  want those meds right right exactly no guys we're  

just joking I'm just joking yeah so yeah no but  that's I think it's really about restaurants bars  

cafes places where you're there to enjoy and again  you're connecting with your community guys yeah  

right right I mean I remember when I worked at a  sports bar in college and we had a lot of regulars  

there who I actually got to be friendly with some  of them it was just like kind of fun to build that  

relationship I remember there was one guy named  Tim and I still remember oh what a he always got  

a Sam Adams I mean I literally still remember that  I still remember what his beer um and then there  

was another guy Gilbert and those were the two  yeah those are the two regulars that stand out in  

my mind um but like I still remember that I mean  and that was goodness gracious a very long time  

ago yeah it's kind of amazing that you remember  their orders and their names and what they got  

guys again that is the way to connect I love it  so good so good right right so I mean are you the  

kind of person who usually has like a regular like  you know dish or a drink or something like that or  

do you like to mix that up a little bit I have my  favorites like this past uh holiday break I was  

really on a grilled cheese kick for some reason I  was just everywhere I went I just wanted grilled  

cheese and tomato soup like the whole wow that's  delicious all I wanted uh so that's what I got  

but it depends on where I go depending you know  or what's good in that place that I've heard so  

I mix it up what about you Michelle um yeah I  mean it can be kind of when you know what you  

love at a restaurant sometimes it can be hard like  whenever we go to our favorite Indian restaurant  

um you know I there's some I really love um paneer  makani oh yes my God that is delicious where do  

you live in New York is such good Indian food  too yes there is wonderful I mean and I always  

go to the same Indian place in my neighborhood  they yeah we're regulars they definitely do it  

because they know yeah yeah where they know my  son like they know you know like yeah we we love  

them and yeah there's oh it's so great anyway  um but it's hard for me to order I mean I also