How To Speak American with the Pros

Michael And here is the segment "Learn to Speak American with the Pros" again! Today, we start with two words used to describe big shots, self-important people, and busybodies: "Bigwig" (literally: "Big Wig") and, as I like to say, "Muckety-Muck" (pronounced: "Mackettimack," with emphasis on the first "a" and the second "a"). "The big muckety-muck decided otherwise again!" -- the boss changed his mind again. By the way, at Netscape, seven people from our group have formed a basketball team that plays in the Netscape internal tournament and is called the "Muckety-Mucks." Which, of course, is meant ironically!

And, since we were talking about restaurants earlier: If you can't finish your meal and want to take it home, you ask, "Could you get me a doggie-bag, please?" A bag for the dog, even if you plan to eat the stuff yourself later. The server will pack the leftovers into a small Styrofoam or plastic container without batting an eye. At home, it's usually reheated in the microwave the next day. Or not! We've gradually stopped doing that because it generally leads to the stuff rotting in the fridge for two weeks and then being taken out and thrown away with a pinch of the fingers.