A pea-souper: The English We Speak

Feifei: Hello and welcome to The English
We Speak. I’m Feifei.
Neil: And I’m Neil.
Feifei: Errr, Neil why are you still here?
I thought you were driving to Manchester.
and Rob was going to present the programme.
Neil: Feifei, have you looked
outside the window?
Feifei: Errr, no. Should I?
Neil: It’s a pea-souper out there!
Feifei: You want me to look out of the window
at PEA SOUP? Is there a big bowl of it or
something?
Neil: No, there’s no soup – it’s an informal
way of describing thick fog. It’s so thick
you can hardly see through it. And that’s why I can’t
drive to Manchester.
Feifei: That is a shame.
But why a pea-souper?
Neil: I guess because, like pea soup, it’s
thick and a dark cloudy colour.
Feifei: Hmm, well I’d rather eat pea soup
than be in it! I think we had better hear
some examples of this strange phrase…
Examples: It looks like our flight is
delayed until this pea-souper clears.
It’s a real pea-souper today. When I was
driving here I couldn’t even see the car in front
of me.
There’s no way I’m cycling in this pea-souper.
It’s far too dangerous.
Feifei: This is The English We Speak from
BBC Learning English. And I’m with Neil, who
can’t travel because of a pea-souper – that’s
a very thick fog, that’s hard to see through.
Neil: Sometimes you can refer to it as ‘smog’,
if it’s fog mixed with air pollution.
Feifei: Yes, that’s horrible stuff to be in.
Well Neil, if you can’t go to Manchester,
what are we going to do?
Neil: Well, let’s have lunch together.
Feifei: Yes, but what are we going to eat?
Neil: Pea soup of course! It’s that
kind of day.
Feifei: Oh look, the fog is clearing. Maybe
you can drive after all!
Neil: Hmm, I’ll get my coat. Bye.
Feifei: See you.