Indiana

So I would use this adjective severe to emphasize that my allergy is not just bothersome or causes a little bit of itching or discomfort, but actually it's quite dangerous and I might need to seek medical attention or something as serious as that if I consumed something that I had a severe allergy to.

So

If you do have a severe allergy, you have an allergy that would cause a strong reaction like hives or your throat starts to close up.

You're having what is called anaphylactic shock.

Then, yeah, you could describe this as a severe allergy.

And this would really convey to the wait staff that, yeah, this is like really important.

They need to make sure that the food does not come into contact with this allergen.

So this is a great way to differentiate from mild intolerance.

So that would just be maybe you get a little bit of an upset stomach.

If you have milk, you could say I'm lactose intolerant.

That means, yeah, you're sensitive to milk, but it's not as serious as a severe allergy where you might have to go to the hospital.

That's right.

I think I use that expression quite a lot.

Okay.

Another one that comes up in this conversation is steer clear.

So after finding out the pad thai has peanuts in it, the customer says, oh, I'm gonna have to steer clear of that.

So in other words, this just means to avoid something, probably because it's dangerous or troubling.

We could also use this expression, like maybe in the office, if your boss is in a bad mood, right?

You say, hey, steer clear of the boss this morning, you know, like just avoid him, right?

Avoid her.