the book is on the table

Portuguese

FWOTD – 26 March 2021

Etymology

A typical sentence found in English coursebooks for beginners. Made popular by DJ MP4's The Book Is on the Table in 2000, and later by Open English commercials around 2012.

Compare Chinese I go to school by bus, French Bryan is in the kitchen, Ukrainian London is the capital of Great Britain.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /deˌbu.kiˌzõ.deˈtej.bow/ [deˌbu.kiˌzõ.deˈteɪ̯.boʊ̯]

Noun

the book is on the table m (uncountable)

1. (Brazil, humorous) Stock phrase used to denote a rudimentary knowledge of English.
   • 1998, Você S.A.: para o executivo do novo milênio, volume 1, Editora Abril, page 111:

     […] — tudo isso sem contar o fato de que ele poderia até achar que você, monoglota ou ainda na fase do The book is on the table, simplesmente mentiu.

     […] — all that without considering the fact that he could think that you, a monoglot or still stuck in basic English, simply lied.

   • 2001, Veja, numbers 1729-1732, Editora Abril, page 168:

     A única restrição é que a maioria das ofertas não serve para quem ainda está no the book is on the table.

     The only restriction is that most offers are not useful to those who have only a basic command of English.

   • 2001, Info Exame, issues 187-189, Editora Abril, unmarked page:

     Para quem ainda está na base do the book is on the table, os recursos não são tantos, mas ainda assim são significativos.

     For those who still have a basic knowledge of English, there are not that many resources, but they are still considerable.

   • 2017, Carlos Eduardo Drummond, Marcio Nolasco, Caetano: uma biografia, Seoman, page 211:

     Já haviam superado a fase do the book is on the table, mas ainda davam seus deslizes.

     They had already moved beyond beginner’s English, but they still stumbled.

See also

• (English) donde esta la biblioteca