Episode 0072

That's right, but actually I hope this situation never happens to any of our listeners.

Exactly, today we are firing somebody.

Yikes.

It is a little bit complicated, but maybe you're an HR manager, maybe you are a supervisor, and you'll have to do this one day. So, gotta learn how, right?

Exactly. All right, well, why don't we get started then, as we listen to Isabel and Anthony.

Hi, Isabel. You wanted to see me?

Yes, Anthony, come on in and have a seat.

Is everything okay? You seem a bit preoccupied.

Well, Anthony, this is not going to be an easy conversation. The company has made some decisions which will have a direct impact on your employment.

Okay.

I don't want to beat around the bush, so I'm just going to come out with it. We're going to have to let you go.

I'm sorry, but to be honest, you're a terrible employee.

Anthony, you were caught making international calls from the office phone. You called in sick eight times this month. And you smell like alcohol.

He did sound a little bit like he had too much to drink, huh?

I know, he had that kind of slur. Yeah, that that slow way of talking that made him seem a little bit drunk.

Well, that's definitely something you don't want to do is show up to work with alcohol on your breath.

Exactly. But, you know what, there's a lot of great language in this dialogue, so why don't we take a look at it now in Language Takeaway.

All right, well I want to look at three words here. Now the first one, Anthony said that Isabel was preoccupied.

Preoccupied.

Preoccupied.

Okay, so if somebody is preoccupied.

They're not focused. Maybe they're a little bit worried.

Yeah, they're thinking of something else.

Okay.

Why don't we take a listen to a few examples of how this word is used.

James is really preoccupied. I think he's having some family problems.

Oh, were you talking to me, honey? I'm sorry. I'm just really preoccupied with work.

All right, so very clear now, preoccupied. Let's move on to our next word, direct impact.

Direct impact.

A direct impact.

All right, so again, Isabel told Anthony that the decision will have a direct impact on his career.

Mhm.

It will have a noticeable or impact or effect on his career.

Okay, so a direct impact. And what about our last word?

Well, Anthony said, I resent that.

Resent.

Resent.

Okay, now this is spelled exactly like re-sent, like with an S, right?

That's right. R E S E N T.

But you pronounce it like a Z.

Resent.

Resent that. So what does it mean if you say, 'I resent that'?

It means, I find that insulting.

I find that to be not true.

Yes. Okay.

I resent that.

All right, Marco, well, how do you use this word?

Well, if somebody tells you, you're lazy.

Okay.

Right? Then you might say,

Hey, I resent that.

Right? I do a lot of work. I'm not lazy.

Yeah, so it's always something that you use after someone insults you.

Right, or says something that you find to be not true.

Mhm. Okay.

Resent that. And I guess with this, it's time for us to listen to this dialogue again, and then we'll come back and look at some great phrases.

Hi, Isabel. You wanted to see me?

Yes, Anthony, come on in and have a seat.

Is everything okay? You seem a bit preoccupied.

Well, Anthony, this is not going to be an easy conversation. The company has made some decisions which will have a direct impact on your employment.

Okay.

I don't want to beat around the bush, so I'm just going to come out with it. We're going to have to let you go.

I'm sorry, but to be honest, you're a terrible employee.

Anthony, you were caught making international calls from the office phone. You called in sick eight times this month. And you smell like alcohol.

Yeah, there's some wonderful language in here that you can use when you have to have a difficult conversation with somebody.

Right, so let's take a look at these phrases in Fluency Builder.

We have three phrases here, and the first one is to beat around the bush.

Okay, beat around the bush.

Beat around the bush.

Okay. So this is an idiomatic phrase. So before we explain it, let's listen to somebody beating around the bush.

Okay, the one thing that I want to tell you, um, it's so important that I don't like, they, I always, sometimes when, all right, here's the deal. This is it. Specifically, it's not this, it's not that, it's not you, it's not me. It's everyone, it's everything. Do you understand what I'm saying?

So as you can tell, the person has something to say but

They're taking a long time to say it.

Right, you're kind of looking for the right or maybe more polite words to say something.

Exactly.

So that is to beat around the bush.

Now, the opposite of to beat around the bush is to come out with it.

Okay, come out with it.

Come out with it.

So maybe you're talking to your friend and he's beating around the bush, so you can just say, hey, come out with it.

Tell me.

Tell me, just what is it?

Exactly.

Right? Come out with it. Be direct.

When Isabel finally came out with it, she told Anthony that we're going to have to let you go.

Let you go.

Let you go.

So, this is actually a nicer way of saying you're fired.

Yeah, it's a little bit more polite, isn't it?

Right. It's we're going to have to let you go or

Oh, I was let go from my company.

Right. So a synonym for to be fired.

Exactly.

Okay, so let's listen to Anthony getting fired one more time, and then we'll come back and talk a little bit more about this difficult situation.

Hi, Isabel. You wanted to see me?

Yes, Anthony, come on in and have a seat.

Is everything okay? You seem a bit preoccupied.

Well, Anthony, this is not going to be an easy conversation. The company has made some decisions which will have a direct impact on your employment.

Okay.

I don't want to beat around the bush, so I'm just going to come out with it. We're going to have to let you go.

I'm sorry, but to be honest, you're a terrible employee.

Anthony, you were caught making international calls from the office phone. You called in sick eight times this month. And you smell like alcohol.

So Erica, have you ever fired anyone?

I have fired a lot of people.

Oh wow. You are a mean person.

Oh, yeah. Well, you know, there are some people who really do silly things like come to work drunk. Um, and if you do that,

You're obviously going to get fired.

Yeah.

But in the United States, actually, there is an interesting way of firing people. They get a pink slip.

Oh, yeah. Um, but I guess this is just a little bit different than getting fired. This is, you get a pink slip when you, um, get laid off.

Right.

Yeah.

And I mean, if you come to work drunk, you get fired immediately, right? But when you get a pink slip. So it's basically a little pink paper that tells you that you have been laid off.

Yeah. And so when you hear somebody say, um, we send out, yeah. So when you hear somebody talk about pink slips, like we send, like our company sent out 500 pink slips. You know that means that 500 people got laid off.

Or I got a pink slip today.

That means you got laid off.

Right.

That's actually interesting because I don't know any other country that actually has this special color for firing people.

Yeah. How about in your country? Is there a special color for pink slips?

If you guys have any stories as well, maybe about being fired or maybe you've had to fire somebody.

Mhm, come to our website and tell us about it.

Right, englishpod.com. There you can leave your questions and comments. Erica and I are always there trying to answer your questions and also our great community is there that will also help you.

Okay, guys, well we're out of time for today, but until next time.

The English pod audio review.

Listen to the meaning, then say the vocabulary word.

Worried, thinking about something else.

Preoccupied.

Connected to, related to.

Direct.

Strong influence or effect.

Impact.

Avoid saying something by talking about other things.

Beat around the bush.

Say something directly.

Come out with it.

Have someone fired or dismissed.

Let someone go.

Used to say something directly.

To be honest.

Find something very insulting.

Resent.

Call the office to say that you can't come to work because you're sick.

Call in sick.

Money or benefits you give someone when they are fired.

Severance package.

End an employment because of business reasons, not performance.

Lay off.

The action of ending employment because of business reasons.

Layoffs.

A letter written to tell an employee he is fired.

Dismissal letter.

End the employment of a person, fire.

Terminate.

Let's try that faster.

Strong influence or effect.

Impact.

End the employment of a person, fire.

Terminate.

Have someone fired or dismissed.

Let someone go.

End an employment because of business reasons, not performance.

Lay off.

The action of ending employment because of business reasons.

Layoffs.

Avoid saying something by talking about other things.

Beat around the bush.

Say something directly.

To be honest.

Call the office to say that you can't come to work because you're sick.

Call in sick.

Find something very insulting.

Resent.

Say something directly.

Come out with it.

Worried, thinking about something else.

Preoccupied.

A letter written to tell an employee he is fired.

Dismissal letter.

Money or benefits you give someone when they are fired.

Severance package.

Connected to, related to.

Direct.

Now say the word and hear it in a sentence.

Preoccupied.

James is really preoccupied. I think he's having some family problems.

Preoccupied.

Oh, were you talking to me, honey? I'm sorry, I'm just really preoccupied with work.

Preoccupied.

John was so preoccupied with his deadline that he forgot to attend his cousin's wedding ceremony.

Impact.

Our overtime costs are having a direct impact on our profits.

Impact.

The new scandal is having a direct impact on the president's approval ratings.

Impact.

This decision is going to have a direct impact on our success.

Beat around the bush.

You really shouldn't have chosen John as your debate contest partner. You know, he's always beating around the bush.

Beat around the bush.

Please don't beat around the bush. If you want to break up, just say so.

Beat around the bush.

Come out with it.

What are you trying to say? Just come out with it.

Come out with it.

When will they come out with it? We know they're boyfriend and girlfriend.

Come out with it.

Don't keep secrets from me. Just come out with it.

Let someone go.

Due to the economic crisis, we will be letting some employees go.

Let someone go.

Let someone go.

If you continue to make this mistake, we're going to have to let you go.