Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast
number 35. You're listening to English as a Second
Language Podcast number 35. I'm Dr. Jeff McQuillen
coming to you from the Center for Educational
Development in Los Angeles, California. Visit
our website at www .eslpod .com for more information
and for the script or text for the first part
of today's podcast. Today we are going to talk
about working in an office and trying to finish
a big project. Listen to this conversation and
then we'll come back and talk about it. Let's
get started. TGIF all day I Was on my way out
of the office When I saw Nick sitting at his
desk Even though the office was nearly empty
He didn't look like he was ready to leave in
fact he looked like He was still swamped with
work. Hi Nick, you're here late. Yeah, it looks
like this may be an all -nighter. I just got
a project dumped in my lap. You're kidding! On
Friday afternoon? What happened? Well, the person
who was put in charge of this project went on
maternity leave this week, and the person who
was supposed to take it over just resigned. I
can't believe that. When is the deadline? I hope
you're getting some extra help. The project is
due first thing Monday morning, and with the
layoffs recently, I think I'm on my own on this
one. Why don't you bring me up to speed? Maybe
I can help. No, it's Friday. You look like you're
about to head home. I can't ask you to do that.
I don't have any big plans for tonight, so I'll
tell you what. I'm having some trouble finishing
the budget on my proposal, and I know you're
a whiz at numbers. Why don't I stay and help
you with your project for the next few hours,
and you can give me a hand with my budget next
week? That's really nice of you. It would be
a big relief. I'm feeling pretty overwhelmed
and I know you've done a project like this before.
Okay, you've got a deal. Good. Now let's see
what we've got. We heard two people talking about
a big project. that was due next week. The conversation
began with Linda saying that it was Friday afternoon
and she had been thinking TGIF all day. TGIF
is an informal expression. It means thank God
it's Friday meaning we're very Grateful we're
very happy that the end of the work week is here
TGIF Thank God. It's Friday Linda was on her
way out of the office when she saw Nick sitting
at his desk To be on your way out means that
you are leaving, or you are walking away. Nick
said that he was swamped with work. To be swamped
with work means to have a lot of work. Literally,
to swamp something means to throw water on it,
like a boat in the ocean, and there's a storm.
The boat... can become swamped, too much water
and it may sink. To be swamped with work means
to have too much work. Linda asked Nick why he
was there so late and Nick said it looked like
this was going to be an all -nighter. An all
-nighter means I'm going to have to stay up all
night to finish my work we sometimes use the
verb pull with this expression I'm going to pull
an all -nighter means I'm going to be up all
night to study for my exam or to finish my work
for the next day Nick said that he had a project
dumped in his lap to dump something in your lap
your lap is When you sit down your legs somebody
sits on top of your lap like A child would sit
on Santa Claus's lap To have something dumped
in your lap though means that someone gave you
work unexpectedly That you weren't expecting
to do this work and suddenly someone gives it
to you usually your boss it's when you are given
some situation that you weren't expecting and
usually don't want Linda says you're kidding
after Nick tells her of this problem you're kidding
literally means you're joking but it's a very
common expression when we are expressing surprise
about something. Did you hear my brother won
the lottery? You're kidding, meaning that's amazing.
Nick says that the person who was put in charge
of the project went on maternity leave. To be
put in charge of something in a work environment
and a business means that you are Responsible
for it. It's your job. I Was put in charge of
washing the dishes last night That means it was
my job to do that Usually though to put in charge
is something we use in a business setting Maternity
leave is when a woman usually leaves her job
for maybe six months, maybe three months, maybe
a year in order to have a baby. So when a woman
becomes pregnant, she can be given maternity
leave. It's now possible in many states in the
United States to have paternity leave. Paternity
leave is for the father to leave work, to help
his wife. Nick said that the person who was supposed
to take it over just resigned. To take over something
means to take charge of it, to be responsible
for it. To take over a project would be I'm going
to take your work and do it myself. To resign
means, as you probably know, to quit, to leave.
We use that verb especially for work settings,
in formal business settings. I resigned. Although
sometimes political leaders can also resign,
especially when they get in trouble. Nick said
that the project was due first thing Monday morning.
First thing means at the beginning of the day,
usually the business day. It's due first thing
on Friday means it's due when work begins on
Friday. You have to get it done before the beginning
of the day on Friday. Nick mentioned that in
his company, There were many layoffs. A layoff
is when the company fires employees. Sometimes
we say the company lets them go, meaning they
get rid of and have less people working for them.
Layoff is also sometimes called downsizing. I
was downsized. All one word, downsize, means
I was fired from my job. In Britain, in England,
they say redundancy. There will be redundancies.
In British English means some people are going
to get fired. Linda asked Nick to bring her up
to speed. To bring someone up to speed means
to give them the information they need. For example,
I arrive late to a meeting and I ask one of my
coworkers, someone I work with, please bring
me up to speed on what happened. So to bring
someone up to speed means to give him information
or her information. We also use the expression
to fill them in. Fill me in on what happened
means tell me, give me the information about
what happened. Linda says that she has some trouble
finishing the budget on her proposal. A budget
is a list of how you are going to spend your
money. Usually, again, this is a business expression,
a work expression, you have a budget. But you
can also have a budget for your house, for your
home. I have five dollars budgeted this week
for getting a coffee at the coffee shop. because
coffee is expensive, you know. It can cost five
dollars sometimes to buy a cup of coffee in many
places. So to budget or to have a budget means
to have a plan for how you're going to spend
your money. A proposal is when you are working
on something and you need to get it approved.
a project, for example. So to have a proposal
means something you are asking someone else to
say yes on, to agree to. Normally a proposal
is a business expression, but we also use the
term proposal when usually a man asks a woman
to marry her. Will you marry me? That's a marriage
proposal. Hopefully she says yes Now Linda says
that Nick is a whiz at numbers To be a whiz at
something means to be very good at to be one
of the best I'm a whiz at Well, I'm not a whiz
at anything but my wife is a whiz at the computer.
She knows how to use the computer very well.
Linda offers to give Nick a hand with something.
To give someone a hand with means to help them.
Could you give me a hand with this box? It's
very heavy and I need someone to help me lift
it up. To give someone a hand with and then you
followed by the thing that they are going to
help you give me a hand with Teaching my class
today means help me do that Nick said that this
was a big relief to be a relief means to have
a difficult burden or a difficult problem Go
away or have someone give you a solution to a
problem a difficult problem That means that we
get some relief We feel better about a project
Nick says that he's feeling pretty overwhelmed
to feel overwhelmed or to be overwhelmed means
to have so much stress and so much anxiety and
worry over something that it doesn't allow you
to act normally, to work normally. I'm overwhelmed
with work means I have so much work I can't do
anything very well. Nick says after Linda offers
to give him a hand He says you've got a deal
That's an expression an informal expression.
We use but it can also be used a lot in business
settings when you say you've got a deal means
okay, I agree to your idea usually in a business
setting this means that you agree for example
to work on a project or if you are selling something
to someone and you are arguing about the price
and finally you agree the other person may say
you've got a deal meaning yes I will do that
or I will buy that that's going to do it for
today's ESL podcast As always, we invite you
to email us. Our address is eslpod at eslpod
.com. I'm Jeff McQuillen from Los Angeles, California.
We'll see you next time on English as a Second
Language Podcast. ESL Podcast is produced by
the Center for Educational Development in Los
Angeles, California. This podcast is copyright
2005.