Tipping rules, or how much extra money you give your waiter or another type of service worker, vary greatly from country to country. When you travel to a new destination, especially where the culture is expected to be quite different from your own, it would be a good idea to do your research and learn the local attitudes to tipping.

You might want to find out what services you should tip for and what the tipping standards are. You don’t want to offend anyone in any way, as the tipping etiquette around the world may fall on opposite ends of the spectrum.

Listen to the people in the video discuss the tipping culture in the USA. How different or how similar is it to your country?

Listen again and try to identify the following expressions. What do you think they mean?
(try not to look up the words in the dictionary, but rather derive the meaning from the context)

“one of the most difficult things to figure out“, “does [that] still hold true“, “that one always gets me“, “figure it into the cost”, “tack on $30 to that”, “dicing up the $30 between …”, “unwritten rule“, “foreman“, “heirloom furniture“, “people are of many minds“, “use your discretion“

Over to you:

• What is the tipping etiquette in your country? What services are you expected to tip for?
• Have you ever found yourself in an awkward situation because you did or did not tip? How did it go?
• Are you for or against a gratuity fee (service charge) being included in the bill?