1.
eating, drinking (honorific); please help yourself
An honorific expression used when offering food or drink to someone of higher social status or to a guest. It is the honorific form of 食べる and 飲む, and is commonly heard in restaurants, formal dining, and hospitality settings.
The honorific noun form of 召し上がる (to eat, to drink), used almost only in set phrases when offering food or drink to a guest or customer.
Common patterns
- お召し上がりください: please eat/drink, please help yourself (the standard offering)
- お召し上がりになりますか: will you have some? (honorific question)
- 店内でお召し上がりですか: will you be eating in? (at a counter)
Usage
Heard constantly in restaurants, shops, hotels and at formal meals. It covers both eating and drinking.
Watch out
召し上がる is already honorific, so お召し上がり is strictly a double honorific. The phrases above are long established and accepted, but 召し上がってください is the textbook form, and stacking more (お召し上がりになってください) sounds overdone to some ears.