WEBVTT 00:00:01.360 --> 00:00:06.259 Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast 00:00:06.259 --> 00:00:17.460 number 35. You're listening to English as a Second 00:00:17.460 --> 00:00:24.800 Language Podcast number 35. I'm Dr. Jeff McQuillen 00:00:24.800 --> 00:00:28.859 coming to you from the Center for Educational 00:00:28.859 --> 00:00:34.460 Development in Los Angeles, California. Visit 00:00:34.460 --> 00:00:46.320 our website at www .eslpod .com for more information 00:00:46.320 --> 00:00:51.659 and for the script or text for the first part 00:00:51.659 --> 00:00:57.399 of today's podcast. Today we are going to talk 00:00:57.399 --> 00:01:03.429 about working in an office and trying to finish 00:01:03.429 --> 00:01:09.250 a big project. Listen to this conversation and 00:01:09.250 --> 00:01:12.870 then we'll come back and talk about it. Let's 00:01:12.870 --> 00:01:35.439 get started. TGIF all day I Was on my way out 00:01:35.439 --> 00:01:40.780 of the office When I saw Nick sitting at his 00:01:40.780 --> 00:01:46.760 desk Even though the office was nearly empty 00:01:46.760 --> 00:01:52.620 He didn't look like he was ready to leave in 00:01:52.620 --> 00:01:57.540 fact he looked like He was still swamped with 00:01:57.540 --> 00:02:04.659 work. Hi Nick, you're here late. Yeah, it looks 00:02:04.659 --> 00:02:09.580 like this may be an all -nighter. I just got 00:02:09.580 --> 00:02:15.099 a project dumped in my lap. You're kidding! On 00:02:15.099 --> 00:02:21.520 Friday afternoon? What happened? Well, the person 00:02:21.520 --> 00:02:25.599 who was put in charge of this project went on 00:02:25.599 --> 00:02:30.340 maternity leave this week, and the person who 00:02:30.340 --> 00:02:35.979 was supposed to take it over just resigned. I 00:02:35.979 --> 00:02:41.539 can't believe that. When is the deadline? I hope 00:02:41.539 --> 00:02:46.300 you're getting some extra help. The project is 00:02:46.300 --> 00:02:52.180 due first thing Monday morning, and with the 00:02:52.180 --> 00:02:57.620 layoffs recently, I think I'm on my own on this 00:02:57.620 --> 00:03:03.740 one. Why don't you bring me up to speed? Maybe 00:03:03.740 --> 00:03:10.319 I can help. No, it's Friday. You look like you're 00:03:10.319 --> 00:03:15.280 about to head home. I can't ask you to do that. 00:03:16.520 --> 00:03:22.439 I don't have any big plans for tonight, so I'll 00:03:22.439 --> 00:03:26.780 tell you what. I'm having some trouble finishing 00:03:26.780 --> 00:03:31.780 the budget on my proposal, and I know you're 00:03:31.780 --> 00:03:36.639 a whiz at numbers. Why don't I stay and help 00:03:36.639 --> 00:03:40.580 you with your project for the next few hours, 00:03:41.240 --> 00:03:45.699 and you can give me a hand with my budget next 00:03:45.699 --> 00:03:51.800 week? That's really nice of you. It would be 00:03:51.800 --> 00:03:57.060 a big relief. I'm feeling pretty overwhelmed 00:03:57.060 --> 00:04:02.939 and I know you've done a project like this before. 00:04:04.180 --> 00:04:10.520 Okay, you've got a deal. Good. Now let's see 00:04:10.520 --> 00:04:21.180 what we've got. We heard two people talking about 00:04:21.180 --> 00:04:30.610 a big project. that was due next week. The conversation 00:04:30.610 --> 00:04:38.389 began with Linda saying that it was Friday afternoon 00:04:38.389 --> 00:04:47.449 and she had been thinking TGIF all day. TGIF 00:04:47.449 --> 00:04:54.040 is an informal expression. It means thank God 00:04:54.040 --> 00:05:01.240 it's Friday meaning we're very Grateful we're 00:05:01.240 --> 00:05:06.660 very happy that the end of the work week is here 00:05:06.660 --> 00:05:14.839 TGIF Thank God. It's Friday Linda was on her 00:05:14.839 --> 00:05:19.139 way out of the office when she saw Nick sitting 00:05:19.139 --> 00:05:23.930 at his desk To be on your way out means that 00:05:23.930 --> 00:05:30.089 you are leaving, or you are walking away. Nick 00:05:30.089 --> 00:05:35.610 said that he was swamped with work. To be swamped 00:05:35.610 --> 00:05:40.329 with work means to have a lot of work. Literally, 00:05:40.910 --> 00:05:45.129 to swamp something means to throw water on it, 00:05:45.430 --> 00:05:50.509 like a boat in the ocean, and there's a storm. 00:05:51.209 --> 00:05:54.990 The boat... can become swamped, too much water 00:05:54.990 --> 00:06:00.110 and it may sink. To be swamped with work means 00:06:00.110 --> 00:06:08.050 to have too much work. Linda asked Nick why he 00:06:08.050 --> 00:06:11.970 was there so late and Nick said it looked like 00:06:11.970 --> 00:06:16.709 this was going to be an all -nighter. An all 00:06:16.709 --> 00:06:21.339 -nighter means I'm going to have to stay up all 00:06:21.339 --> 00:06:26.980 night to finish my work we sometimes use the 00:06:26.980 --> 00:06:32.399 verb pull with this expression I'm going to pull 00:06:32.399 --> 00:06:36.339 an all -nighter means I'm going to be up all 00:06:36.339 --> 00:06:42.180 night to study for my exam or to finish my work 00:06:42.180 --> 00:06:47.879 for the next day Nick said that he had a project 00:06:47.879 --> 00:06:53.620 dumped in his lap to dump something in your lap 00:06:53.620 --> 00:06:58.740 your lap is When you sit down your legs somebody 00:06:58.740 --> 00:07:04.480 sits on top of your lap like A child would sit 00:07:04.480 --> 00:07:09.459 on Santa Claus's lap To have something dumped 00:07:09.459 --> 00:07:14.540 in your lap though means that someone gave you 00:07:14.540 --> 00:07:19.730 work unexpectedly That you weren't expecting 00:07:19.730 --> 00:07:23.410 to do this work and suddenly someone gives it 00:07:23.410 --> 00:07:29.029 to you usually your boss it's when you are given 00:07:29.029 --> 00:07:32.629 some situation that you weren't expecting and 00:07:32.629 --> 00:07:38.410 usually don't want Linda says you're kidding 00:07:38.410 --> 00:07:43.790 after Nick tells her of this problem you're kidding 00:07:43.790 --> 00:07:48.689 literally means you're joking but it's a very 00:07:48.689 --> 00:07:53.589 common expression when we are expressing surprise 00:07:53.589 --> 00:07:58.490 about something. Did you hear my brother won 00:07:58.490 --> 00:08:04.170 the lottery? You're kidding, meaning that's amazing. 00:08:06.329 --> 00:08:10.250 Nick says that the person who was put in charge 00:08:10.250 --> 00:08:15.529 of the project went on maternity leave. To be 00:08:15.529 --> 00:08:19.490 put in charge of something in a work environment 00:08:19.490 --> 00:08:24.370 and a business means that you are Responsible 00:08:24.370 --> 00:08:30.670 for it. It's your job. I Was put in charge of 00:08:30.670 --> 00:08:35.250 washing the dishes last night That means it was 00:08:35.250 --> 00:08:39.970 my job to do that Usually though to put in charge 00:08:39.970 --> 00:08:45.539 is something we use in a business setting Maternity 00:08:45.539 --> 00:08:52.039 leave is when a woman usually leaves her job 00:08:52.039 --> 00:08:57.059 for maybe six months, maybe three months, maybe 00:08:57.059 --> 00:09:01.980 a year in order to have a baby. So when a woman 00:09:01.980 --> 00:09:06.000 becomes pregnant, she can be given maternity 00:09:06.000 --> 00:09:10.840 leave. It's now possible in many states in the 00:09:10.840 --> 00:09:15.919 United States to have paternity leave. Paternity 00:09:15.919 --> 00:09:21.779 leave is for the father to leave work, to help 00:09:21.779 --> 00:09:28.480 his wife. Nick said that the person who was supposed 00:09:28.480 --> 00:09:33.679 to take it over just resigned. To take over something 00:09:33.679 --> 00:09:37.860 means to take charge of it, to be responsible 00:09:37.860 --> 00:09:43.419 for it. To take over a project would be I'm going 00:09:43.419 --> 00:09:49.220 to take your work and do it myself. To resign 00:09:49.220 --> 00:09:53.500 means, as you probably know, to quit, to leave. 00:09:54.179 --> 00:09:58.059 We use that verb especially for work settings, 00:09:58.519 --> 00:10:02.679 in formal business settings. I resigned. Although 00:10:02.679 --> 00:10:06.899 sometimes political leaders can also resign, 00:10:07.559 --> 00:10:13.379 especially when they get in trouble. Nick said 00:10:13.379 --> 00:10:18.320 that the project was due first thing Monday morning. 00:10:19.100 --> 00:10:22.259 First thing means at the beginning of the day, 00:10:22.559 --> 00:10:27.379 usually the business day. It's due first thing 00:10:27.379 --> 00:10:32.679 on Friday means it's due when work begins on 00:10:32.679 --> 00:10:36.759 Friday. You have to get it done before the beginning 00:10:36.759 --> 00:10:41.200 of the day on Friday. Nick mentioned that in 00:10:41.200 --> 00:10:46.159 his company, There were many layoffs. A layoff 00:10:46.159 --> 00:10:52.139 is when the company fires employees. Sometimes 00:10:52.139 --> 00:10:57.720 we say the company lets them go, meaning they 00:10:57.720 --> 00:11:02.299 get rid of and have less people working for them. 00:11:02.980 --> 00:11:09.120 Layoff is also sometimes called downsizing. I 00:11:09.120 --> 00:11:13.970 was downsized. All one word, downsize, means 00:11:13.970 --> 00:11:20.350 I was fired from my job. In Britain, in England, 00:11:20.929 --> 00:11:26.230 they say redundancy. There will be redundancies. 00:11:27.169 --> 00:11:31.029 In British English means some people are going 00:11:31.029 --> 00:11:38.149 to get fired. Linda asked Nick to bring her up 00:11:38.149 --> 00:11:43.100 to speed. To bring someone up to speed means 00:11:43.100 --> 00:11:50.000 to give them the information they need. For example, 00:11:50.879 --> 00:11:56.919 I arrive late to a meeting and I ask one of my 00:11:56.919 --> 00:12:01.360 coworkers, someone I work with, please bring 00:12:01.360 --> 00:12:05.519 me up to speed on what happened. So to bring 00:12:05.519 --> 00:12:09.750 someone up to speed means to give him information 00:12:09.750 --> 00:12:13.389 or her information. We also use the expression 00:12:13.389 --> 00:12:18.210 to fill them in. Fill me in on what happened 00:12:18.210 --> 00:12:21.929 means tell me, give me the information about 00:12:21.929 --> 00:12:28.929 what happened. Linda says that she has some trouble 00:12:28.929 --> 00:12:34.250 finishing the budget on her proposal. A budget 00:12:34.250 --> 00:12:38.200 is a list of how you are going to spend your 00:12:38.200 --> 00:12:42.279 money. Usually, again, this is a business expression, 00:12:42.899 --> 00:12:46.259 a work expression, you have a budget. But you 00:12:46.259 --> 00:12:50.440 can also have a budget for your house, for your 00:12:50.440 --> 00:12:57.340 home. I have five dollars budgeted this week 00:12:57.340 --> 00:13:03.429 for getting a coffee at the coffee shop. because 00:13:03.429 --> 00:13:07.669 coffee is expensive, you know. It can cost five 00:13:07.669 --> 00:13:11.990 dollars sometimes to buy a cup of coffee in many 00:13:11.990 --> 00:13:16.990 places. So to budget or to have a budget means 00:13:16.990 --> 00:13:20.370 to have a plan for how you're going to spend 00:13:20.370 --> 00:13:27.470 your money. A proposal is when you are working 00:13:27.470 --> 00:13:30.909 on something and you need to get it approved. 00:13:31.320 --> 00:13:35.899 a project, for example. So to have a proposal 00:13:35.899 --> 00:13:39.860 means something you are asking someone else to 00:13:39.860 --> 00:13:44.179 say yes on, to agree to. Normally a proposal 00:13:44.179 --> 00:13:47.659 is a business expression, but we also use the 00:13:47.659 --> 00:13:53.720 term proposal when usually a man asks a woman 00:13:53.720 --> 00:13:58.759 to marry her. Will you marry me? That's a marriage 00:13:58.759 --> 00:14:05.950 proposal. Hopefully she says yes Now Linda says 00:14:05.950 --> 00:14:11.690 that Nick is a whiz at numbers To be a whiz at 00:14:11.690 --> 00:14:16.230 something means to be very good at to be one 00:14:16.230 --> 00:14:23.509 of the best I'm a whiz at Well, I'm not a whiz 00:14:23.509 --> 00:14:31.080 at anything but my wife is a whiz at the computer. 00:14:31.480 --> 00:14:35.519 She knows how to use the computer very well. 00:14:36.580 --> 00:14:41.179 Linda offers to give Nick a hand with something. 00:14:42.179 --> 00:14:47.000 To give someone a hand with means to help them. 00:14:48.000 --> 00:14:53.679 Could you give me a hand with this box? It's 00:14:53.679 --> 00:14:57.940 very heavy and I need someone to help me lift 00:14:57.940 --> 00:15:02.460 it up. To give someone a hand with and then you 00:15:02.460 --> 00:15:05.000 followed by the thing that they are going to 00:15:05.000 --> 00:15:09.460 help you give me a hand with Teaching my class 00:15:09.460 --> 00:15:14.820 today means help me do that Nick said that this 00:15:14.820 --> 00:15:22.799 was a big relief to be a relief means to have 00:15:22.799 --> 00:15:29.549 a difficult burden or a difficult problem Go 00:15:29.549 --> 00:15:33.450 away or have someone give you a solution to a 00:15:33.450 --> 00:15:37.669 problem a difficult problem That means that we 00:15:37.669 --> 00:15:43.370 get some relief We feel better about a project 00:15:43.370 --> 00:15:47.889 Nick says that he's feeling pretty overwhelmed 00:15:47.889 --> 00:15:54.549 to feel overwhelmed or to be overwhelmed means 00:15:54.549 --> 00:16:03.409 to have so much stress and so much anxiety and 00:16:03.409 --> 00:16:10.309 worry over something that it doesn't allow you 00:16:10.309 --> 00:16:16.289 to act normally, to work normally. I'm overwhelmed 00:16:16.289 --> 00:16:21.870 with work means I have so much work I can't do 00:16:21.870 --> 00:16:28.889 anything very well. Nick says after Linda offers 00:16:28.889 --> 00:16:34.669 to give him a hand He says you've got a deal 00:16:34.669 --> 00:16:38.429 That's an expression an informal expression. 00:16:38.429 --> 00:16:42.450 We use but it can also be used a lot in business 00:16:42.450 --> 00:16:46.049 settings when you say you've got a deal means 00:16:46.049 --> 00:16:53.029 okay, I agree to your idea usually in a business 00:16:53.029 --> 00:16:57.590 setting this means that you agree for example 00:16:57.590 --> 00:17:02.789 to work on a project or if you are selling something 00:17:02.789 --> 00:17:09.130 to someone and you are arguing about the price 00:17:09.130 --> 00:17:12.650 and finally you agree the other person may say 00:17:12.650 --> 00:17:17.009 you've got a deal meaning yes I will do that 00:17:17.009 --> 00:17:21.569 or I will buy that that's going to do it for 00:17:21.569 --> 00:17:26.150 today's ESL podcast As always, we invite you 00:17:26.150 --> 00:17:34.609 to email us. Our address is eslpod at eslpod 00:17:34.609 --> 00:17:40.670 .com. I'm Jeff McQuillen from Los Angeles, California. 00:17:41.410 --> 00:17:44.690 We'll see you next time on English as a Second 00:17:44.690 --> 00:17:53.279 Language Podcast. ESL Podcast is produced by 00:17:53.279 --> 00:17:55.579 the Center for Educational Development in Los 00:17:55.579 --> 00:17:58.700 Angeles, California. This podcast is copyright 00:17:58.700 --> 00:18:00.059 2005.