Callous – Diet Food – by Carlo Jose San Juan

Transcript

Box 1: I’d like a quadruple-patty burger with lettuce, pickles, onions, tomatoes, ketchup, mustard, and lots and lots of cheese! And French fries!
Box 2: Very well, Ma’am! And what would you like to drink with that?
Box 3: A diet Cola of course! I have to watch my weight!

Vocabulary

quadruple-patty burger
- burger /ˈbɜː.ɡər/ = (informal term for hamburger) a round flat piece of minced beef, fried and eaten between two halves of a bread roll
- quadruple /kwɒdˈruː.pl̩/ repeated 4 times
- patty (n.) /ˈpæt.i/ a piece of food made into a disc shape that is then cooked
- In other words, what she orders would look like this
lettuce (n.) /ˈlet.ɪs/ a plant with large, green leaves, eaten uncooked in salads like these
pickle (n.) /ˈpɪk.l̩/ a cucumber that has been preserved in vinegar or salty water, like these
French fries (n.) long, thin pieces of fried potato, like these
Ma’am (term of address) /mɑːm/ a polite way of talking to a woman
diet (adj.) /ˈdaɪ.ət/ describes food or drink that contains less sugar or fat than the usual type, and often contains an artificial sweetener
to watch (v.) here, it means: to be paying attention about / to be careful about …
weight (n.) /weɪt/ how heavy your body is

Have you understood what she is ordering? (If you don’t have a picture of what this would look like, have a peek here) That food is definitely too rich and quite fattening. Yet, she is ordering a diet cola because she wants to be careful about not putting on too much weight.
This comic strip is making fun of the fact that many people drink “diet coke” or “diet cola” because they say they are watching their weight but still eat too much fatty food.
- Note: many people think it’s healthier to drink “diet soda” because it doesn’t contain sugar, but many studies and health experts say that it is very unhealthy for your body. Not convinced? Brush up your vocabulary about food and medicine, and start reading any articles here.