Context #1:
The most embarrassing
thing happened to me yesterday at lunch. My problems started in the morning. I
forgot to set my alarm and woke up late, so had to rush out of the house
without breakfast. By lunchtime, I was so hungry! I scarfed down my
lunch like I hadn't eaten in days! The embarrassing part was that my very cute
coworker saw the whole thing and I didn't notice until I was finished! Now he
probably thinks I always eat like an animal. So embarrassing.
Context #2:
This week's party will
include a formal dinner. Please use appropriate language. Please do not scarf
down your food and don't forget to put your napkins in your laps.
Explanation:
to scarf
down something means to eat something very
quickly without regard for manners. When using this expression, a noun or name
of food should follow the expression.
He scarfed
down the whole bag of potato chips by
himself.
Don't scarf
down your dinner. You'll upset your
stomach.
In Example 1, the
speaker is recalling the embarrassing experience of being extremely hungry and
so eating her food so quickly and ravenously. At lunchtime, she didn't care how
she ate, or how she looked while she ate because she was very hungry. Only
after, she realized that someone else had witnessed her wild eating.
In Example 2, the
speaker is giving instructions for the upcoming party. Since the dinner will be
formal, participants are instructed to eat slowly and politely, NOT
to scarf down their food.
