Jason: You won’t believe what just happened.
Jen: What happened?
Jason: The restaurant manager said that our dinner was on the house!
Jen: What? Really? So our dinner was free? Why?
Jason: He said we were the hundredth customer so that’s why our dinner was on the house.

오늘 본문에서 저는 Jason과 함께 저녁 식사를 했습니다. 계산을 하러 다녀온 Jason이 제게 “You won’t believe what just happened! 너 지금 일어난 일을 믿지 못할걸!”이라고 하자 저는 “What happened? 무슨 일인데?”라고 묻습니다.

이어서 Jason은 “The restaurant manager said that our dinner was on the house! 식당 매니저가 오늘 우리가 먹은 저녁은 서비스래.”라고 하자 저는 “What? Really? So our dinner was free? Why? 뭐? 정말? 오늘 저녁이 공짜라고? 아니 왜?”라고 궁금해합니다.

Jason은 미소를 지으면서 “He said we were the hundredth customer so that’s why our dinner was on the house. 우리가 100번째 손님이라서 서비스로 공짜로 해준거야.”라고 합니다.

Now keep today’s expression ‘on the house’ in mind and let’s hear the conversation again. 그럼 다시 한번 대화를 들어볼까요?

Jason: You won’t believe what just happened.
Jen: What happened?
Jason: The restaurant manager said that our dinner was on the house!
Jen: What? Really? So our dinner was free? Why?
Jason: He said we were the hundredth customer so that’s why our dinner was on the house.

Today’s expression is on the house. If something is on the house it means something is given away free by a merchant. On the house는 ‘주인이 내다’, ‘손님에게 서비스로 공짜로 주다’ 라는 뜻입니다.

이 표현은 음식점이나 호텔처럼 서비스와 관련된 상황에서 자주 들을 수 있습니다. 오늘 본문에서 Jason이 제게 식당 매니저가 저녁 식사를 서비스로 해줬다고 말합니다. “The restaurant manager said that our dinner was on the house! 라고요.

Now let me give you an example sentence. “This dessert is on the house.”는 “이 후식은 서비스입니다.”라는 뜻입니다.

Here is another example. “After Jane complained to the restaurant manager about her order coming out too late, he took her order off the bill and told her it was on the house.” 라는 문장은 "Jane이 주문한 음식이 너무 늦게 나온다고 식당 매니저에게 불평하자, 매니저가 서비스로 음식값을 받지 않겠다고 했어.”라고 해석할 수 있습니다.

오늘의 대화를 마지막으로 들어보겠습니다. Now let’s listen to the conversation for the last time.

Jason: You won’t believe what just happened.
Jen: What happened?
Jason: The restaurant manager said that our dinner was on the house!
Jen: What? Really? So our dinner was free? Why?
Jason: He said we were the hundredth customer so that’s why our dinner was on the house.

Let’s review. If something is on the house it means that something is given away free by a merchant. ON THE HOUSE. Now try using this expression on your own.