Enjoy your meal

I find "Bon appetit" rather charming, whether I'm in a restaurant or at a private house for dinner. I have a feeling that no English phrase will ever quite have the same feeling.

I still don't understand 5jj's answers. Could somebody else please give their opinion on whether or not the phrase "enjoy your meal" is "a commonly accepted standard expression" and what actually "a commonly accepted standard expression" means?

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Originally Posted by CarloSsS

I still don't understand 5jj's answers. Could somebody else please give their opinion on whether or not the phrase "enjoy your meal" is "a commonly accepted standard expression" and what actually "a commonly accepted standard expression" means?

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Which of the four words commonly, accepted, standard and expression do you not understand?

Separately, I understand each of them. But if used together, I'm not sure about their meaning. Maybe an example of one " commonly accepted standard expression" and one "commonly unaccepted standard expression" would help me to understand what the phrase means.

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Originally Posted by CarloSsS

Separately, I understand each of them. But if used together, I'm not sure about their meaning. Maybe an example of one " commonly accepted standard expression" and one "commonly unaccepted standard expression" would help.

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"Commonly accepted standard expression" means that you can use the expression and expect to be understood, without being ridiculed for saying it, etc. Your second expression is not a commonly accepted standard expression.

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Originally Posted by CarloSsS

Separately, I understand each of them. But if used together, I'm not sure about their meaning. Maybe an example of one " commonly accepted standard expression" and one "commonly unaccepted standard expression" would help me to understand what the phrase means.

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Well, if an expression is not commonly accepted, then it's not really a standard expression,

"Merry Christmas", "Happy Christmas" and "Happy New Year" are widely used at the appropriate time of year. They are fairly fixed (standard) expressions, and they are widely, i.e. commonly, accepted. There is no reason why we shouldn't say "Cheerful Christmas" or "Merry New Year", but we don't. They are not commonly accepted standard expressions.

Many people say "Enjoy your meal" at the appropriate time, but many don't. It is not such a standard expression as for example, "bon appétit" is in France.

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Originally Posted by Raymott

"Commonly accepted standard expression" means that you can use the expression and expect to be understood, without being ridiculed for saying it, etc. Your second expression is not a commonly accepted standard expression.

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All right. So in that case, if I say "enjoy your meal", which according to 5jj is not a commonly accepted standard expression, I might get ridiculed for saying it? When I was in the US, I was told "enjoy your meal" several times, so I thought it's all right to use it.

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Originally Posted by CarloSsS

All right. So in that case, if I say "enjoy your meal", which according to 5jj is not a commonly accepted standard expression, I might get ridiculed for saying it?

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No, you wouldn't be ridiculed for saying that expression in Australia. I would call that a commonly accepted standard expression here. It's certainly not uncommon; I don't think it's commonly unaccepted, nor uncommonly accepted. But these are all simple descriptive terms. A c.a.s.e is not a grammatical term.

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Originally Posted by 5jj

Well, if an expression is not commonly accepted, then it's not really a standard expression,

"Merry Christmas", "Happy Christmas" and "Happy New Year" are widely used at the appropriate time of year. They are fairly fixed (standard) expressions, and they are widely, i.e. commonly, accepted. There is no reason why we shouldn't say "Cheerful Christmas" or "Merry New Year", but we don't. They are not commonly accepted standard expressions.

Many people say "Enjoy your meal" at the appropriate time, but many don't. It is not such a standard expression as for example, "bon appétit" is in France.

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So we could say that "a commonly accepted standard expression" is just what sounds natural in English?

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Originally Posted by Raymott

No, you wouldn't be ridiculed for saying that expression in Australia. I would call that a commonly accepted standard expression here.

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I see. So maybe it's just a regional thing, that is AmE vs. BrE vs. AusE.