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I'll just have the house red.

English translation: house red wine

09:50 Oct 22, 2013
English language (monolingual) [Non-PRO]
Food & Drink
English term or phrase: I'll just have the house red.
Hello, It's my first post here. I have recently come across this sentence. I've been wondering if this derives from 'painting the town red' or maybe there is another meaning to that? Please help me. I've heard it in circumstances connected with food and eating.
Thx a lot for help
Kiersznik
Poland
Local time: 13:55
Selected answer:house red wine
Explanation:
See the following:

House wine: A relatively inexpensive wine sold in a restaurant, often by the glass as well as by the bottle or unmarked carafe; both red and white are normally offered.

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/house_wine

Asking for the "house red" is an abbreviated way of asking for the red wine served by a particular restaurant.
Selected response from:

Arabic & More
Jordan
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
4 +12house red wine
Arabic & More
5 +9I'd like to order the ordinary red wine suggested by the restaurant etc.
Tony M


Discussion entries: 4





  

Answers


8 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +12
i'll just have the house red.
house red wine


Explanation:
See the following:

House wine: A relatively inexpensive wine sold in a restaurant, often by the glass as well as by the bottle or unmarked carafe; both red and white are normally offered.

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/house_wine

Asking for the "house red" is an abbreviated way of asking for the red wine served by a particular restaurant.

Arabic & More
Jordan
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Tony M
0 min
agree  John Holland
4 mins
agree  Gül Kaya
6 mins
agree  Carol Gullidge: I was having a (serious!!) mental block! And common also here in the UK - in fact I think you can safely say "universal"!
14 mins
agree  Jenni Lukac (X)
35 mins
agree  Shera Lyn Parpia
1 hr
agree  Sheila Wilson
2 hrs
agree  Trudy Peters: or the red house wine
5 hrs
agree  Barbara Carrara
6 hrs
agree  Ulrike Anderson
6 hrs
agree  David Moore (X): Not just US usage, either!
21 hrs
agree  jccantrell: I'll drink to that! Oh, wait, it is only 7:30 in the morning here. Well, it is 5 PM somewhere.
1 day 4 hrs
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

5 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +9
I'd like to order the ordinary red wine suggested by the restaurant etc.


Explanation:
No, it is referring to red wine; the 'house red (wine)' just means the ordinary red wine proposed by the establishment.

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Note added at 8 mins (2013-10-22 09:59:17 GMT)
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In other words, at the moment perhaps that the (wine) waiter brings the wine list, the customer will wave it away and say "No, thanks, I don't want to choose a specific wine, I'll just order the ordinary wine you suggest"

This maybe because it is the cheapest option, or the person may not have a particularly developed appreciation of wine; and it is the sort of choice sometimes made by people who feel intimidated by an extensive wine list, and prefer to 'play safe' and order something 'ordinary', rather than risk betraying their ignorance among a sea of Châteaux, Domaines, etc.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 6 hrs (2013-10-22 16:15:13 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

'house' is a common way of referring to 'this establishment', e.g. 'house special' = 'speciality of the restaurant'; but there is a danger of confusion with the faux ami 'maison' in FR, since that most often means specifically 'home-made' — so an EN speaker attempting to ask for the 'house wine' but using 'maison' would actually appear to be asking for 'home-made wine'!

Tony M
France
Local time: 13:55
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 24

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  John Holland: As in that old Billy Joel song, "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant": "A bottle of white, a bottle of red..." See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUz48xw_OiM
7 mins
  -> Thanks, John! Cheers!
agree  Gül Kaya
9 mins
  -> Thanks, Gül!
agree  Victoria Britten
11 mins
  -> Thanks, Victoria!
agree  Jack Doughty
12 mins
  -> Thanks, Jack!
agree  Arabic & More
14 mins
  -> Thansk, Amel! Most sporting, old chap ;-)
agree  Carol Gullidge: of course! //Oh dear, must have been last night's Chablis. Not used to such good stuff!
19 mins
  -> Thanks, Carol! Goodness, I was beginning to think you had never touched a drop... ;-)
agree  kmtext
39 mins
  -> Thanks, KMT!
agree  Charlesp: Yep. Just what this is!
3 hrs
  -> Thanks, Charles!
agree  Barbara Carrara: (and pls thank John for the Billy Joel ref.)
6 hrs
  -> Thanks, Barbara! And yes, thanks for that too, John.
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