Set the table

[Sammy Sam]

When we say "set the table" we mean we arrange a table cloth, plates, glasses, silverware and the likes for a meal not the food for a meal. "Lay the table" is used in British English.

But when we put food for a meal on the table, can we say?

a) "serve the table"
b) "serve the food on the table"

can we say in passive?

c) "The table is served"
d) "The food is served on the table"

And kindly share all the possible variants naturally used by the native speakers of English if there are more of them.

 

[teechar]

But when we put food for a meal on the table, can we say the following?

Who is saying that, and who are they saying it to?

a) "serve the table"

No, but "... serve the food" might be part of a sentence.

b) "serve the food on the table"

No.

can we say it in the passive?
c) "The table is served"

No.

d) "The food is served on the table"

No, but again "the food is served" (without "table") is used.

 

[5jj]

But when we put food for a meal on the table, can we say?

a) "serve the table"
b) "serve the food on the table"

No.

 

[Sammy Sam]

No.

Then what phrases can we use after we put the meal on the table?

 

[emsr2d2]

In the UK, when we put food on plates and on the table (at home), we "dish up".

Helen, please come out here to lay the table, then help me dish up.

 

[emsr2d2]

Then what phrases can we use after we put the meal on the table?

After we put the meal on the table, we eat it!

 

[Sammy Sam]

After we put the meal on the table, we eat it!

obviously

 

[Sammy Sam]

In the UK, when we put food on plates and on the table (at home), we "dish up".

Helen, please come out here to lay the table, then help me dish up.

Is it the same in the US? Do they also call it dishing up?

 

[teechar]

Then what phrases can we use after we put the meal on the table?

One informal phrase you may hear is "dig in".

 

[Tarheel]

Is it the same in the US? Do they also call it dishing up?

I've never heard it before. My guess is it's British English.

After the food has been put on the table you might hear "Dinner's ready!" "Come and get it it!" is also possible.

(You might hear "Dinner is served" in a very formal setting.)

 

[emsr2d2]

It occurred to me (after I wrote my previous post) that we are all possibly thinking of different ways of sorting out the table and getting the food onto plates/bowls.

If you're asked to "lay the table", you put placemats, cutlery, glasses, condiments on the dining table. You might also put empty plates and bowls at each setting. Whether you put those plates on bowls on the table depends on how the meal is to be served.

If the meals are to be put onto/into the plates/bowls in the kitchen and then brought in individually for people to eat, then you wouldn't put the empty plates and bowls on the table, and the food would "dished up" in the kitchen.

If the various components of the final meal are to be put onto the dining table in large serving dishes, either for people to help themselves or for someone to take charge of putting the food on/in the plates/bowls, then laying the table would involve putting the empty plates and bowls on the dining table in advance. The food would then be "dished up" at the table.

Once everyone is seated and there is food right in front of them, ready to eat, there are various things that could be said - "Tuck in", "Get stuck in", "OK, you can start eating" and even (I believe in AmE) "Chow down". That last one is, I think, based on military terminology.
If the food is in large serving dishes on the table and people are expected to take whatever they want from those dishes, someone (probably the person who cooked it all) might say "Help yourselves".

 

[5jj]

I don't know this terminology. Lady 5jj and I leave all the menial matters to the servants.

 

[Barque]

b) "serve the food on the table"

This is possible if you're telling someone to serve the food that's on the table (and not the food on the kitchen counter) to others.

But when we put food for a meal on the table, can we say?

There's no specific generally used term. You might hear informal expressions like "dish up". I've only heard "dish up" used in a slightly different context.

I'd say "I brought the food out from the kitchen and put it on the table" or "I put the food in serving dishes and put them on the table". The exact wording would depend on who I was saying it to and why I was saying it.

 

[teechar]

I'd say "I brought the food out from the kitchen and put it on the table" or "I put the food in serving dishes and put them on the table".

Who would you say that to, and why?

 

[Barque]

If someone in the house asked me "What have you been doing for the last ten minutes?" Just one possibility.

My answer was directed to the OP, who seems to want to know how you'd express having put food on the dining table after laying the table.

 

[teechar]

That sounds like someone was interrogating you, which is not what the OP was asking about.

 

[Barque]

Well, I disagree. (I just added to my last post by the way, in case you posted before seeing it.)

 

[Barque]

No, wait, actually yes, it does sound as if someone was asking me a question. I did say that in that post.

You might also say it if you were feeling chatty and just wanted to tell someone what you'd been doing.

But whether you were being "interrogated" or not, I think it still answers the OP's question.

 

[Barque]

The OP's question was (paraphrased), "How do you express having put food on the dining table after laying it?"