I’LL HAVE THEM RUNNY PLEASE. VERY RUNNY.

The man next to me in the Norfolk deli café had just ordered the Farmer’s English Breakfast.

“And how would you like your eggs?” asked the waitress.

“Oh, I’ll have them runny please. Very runny,” he replied, rubbing his stomach.

The waitress looked confused.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” said the man, seemingly flustered. “You didn’t mean that, did you. But I don’t know all those new, fangled American terms; sunny-side up, over-easy and all that. So I’ll just go with runny if that’s OK?”

The waitress smiled. “And would you like your runny eggs poached, fried or scrambled?”