#LevelUp，特点是英式英语，且语速较慢。原始Transcript需要付美元，下文中的Transcript是手动音频转的文本，人工订正可能会有瑕疵。
本期介绍与工作相关的英语表达，共八个，其中三个作为额外内容发送到邮件订阅者。介绍了 “in a nutshell（简而言之）”“bite off more than you can chew（贪多嚼不烂）”“deal with something（处理某事）”“think outside the box（跳出常规思维）”“downtime（空闲时间）” 五个表达，并通过一个关于制作牛仔裤的故事进行总结。
Today we’ll look at 5 common English expressions that can be useful for work, but also still applicable for everyday life. You can either listen on YouTube or on the Podcast.
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In a nutshell – to talk about something big in a few words
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Bite off more than you can chew – When you start something that is too big to finish
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Deal with – to sort out a problem, to fix a problem
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To think outside the box – to think of a solution that is different from what is normally done in an unusual, creative way
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Downtime – free time when you don’t have (much) work
Transcript
Welcome to the level up English podcast, the best place to come to practice the English language, learn about the British accent and culture. With me, your host, Michael Lavers.
Hello, English learners, and welcome back to another episode. Maybe some of you will see this is a special episode because I am also recording this on YouTube. So if you are not already on YouTube and you want to see the video, you can head over to my YouTube channel at English with Michael. And then you can see the vocabulary on the screen and, you know, watch the subtitles while I talk. So if you're interested in that. There we go. You know, I'm trying to get to 300 subscribers by the end of the year. So if you could help me with that, that would be great.
But regardless of where you're watching this, thank you very much for coming back. Before we get started today, I want to thank Ahmed. I hope I'm pronouncing that correctly. So he left a review on iTunes from Saudi Arabia. And he's just, he said it's a really good podcast for improving your British accent and listening and getting used to the sound. So thank you very much to him. And yeah, if you want to leave a review, you can do so too. Or if you want to leave a question for me to answer on the podcast, you can also do that at Ew Michael dot com forward slash podcast. You can leave your question at the bottom of the page. So for those of you who saw or listen to last week's podcast episode, this is gonna be a very similar format. So next week we'll have a teacher interview, but for now we're gonna be looking at some English expressions. Last week we looked at romance and dating expressions.
Today we're looking at expressions related to work and jobs. So if you have a job where you need to use English at work, or maybe you think you might in the future, this will be a good podcast to listen to. But even if you don't have a job that needs English, then these expressions are good for anything. You know, I don't have any coworkers really, but I still use these expressions with my friends and anyone else I meet. So we have eight idioms altogether, eight expressions. And at the end, after I've told you what they mean, I'm gonna try to summarize them in a story. And just like last time, I haven't prepared for the story, so it might be terrible. We'll see.
Although there are eight expressions altogether, three of them are going to be bonus content. So if you want that content, you have to sign up to my email list and I will send you the bonus video there and more information about that at the end of this episode. So let's get right into it with expression No. 1. This is a really common one and might sound a bit confusing for many people. But this is, in a nutshell. This basically means to say lots of information in a very short sentence, a very few words, basically, I think it's a really old expression. It probably goes back 1,000 years or so from what I've heard. And yeah, it really just means everything you want to say is small enough to fit inside a nutshell.
So for example, maybe you've had a very busy day at work and there's so many things that you've done and you have to explain what you've done to your boss. But if you told him everything, you would be there for hours. You know, you've done so much today at a really productive day. So you could say, rather than explaining everything in a nutshell, I've had a productive day. It's such a short way to say we, you've summarized your whole day. Productive. Or maybe you've just come back from a date with someone, a first date, and your friends want to know how it went. So they might ask you, how did it go? How was your date? You can simply reply in a nutshell, I think it went well. Now I think we had a connection. Yeah, maybe there were some UPS and some downs during the date, but overall it was okay. So it's a very useful expression for work and just for general life as well. It's really common.
So expression No. 2 is very appropriate for work, and that is to bite off more than you can chew. So imagine you're eating a sandwich or an apple or something, you take a really big bite and too much food, you can't chew it. You were too greedy and now you can't finish your food. What are you going to do? So this is basically a metaphor for work. And it really means when you start a job that is too big to finish, maybe you feel very confident, you feel like you can complete the task, but in reality, you really can't.
For example, here's a real example. At the moment, I'm working on a very big English course, or more like a compilation of many courses for you guys. It's a lot of fun, but I have so much work ahead of me. So I think I can do it. But on the other hand, there are parts of me that thinks, wow, I bit off way more than I could chew is such a big project. So think about any times when you have bitten off more than you could chew.
The next expression, No. 3, is to deal with something. So this is a phrasal verb, and this just means to fix or solve a problem. So of course, we all have problems, especially at work. So maybe your boss could say to you, Michael, can you please deal with this problem? Can you solve this problem for me? You could reply, of course, boss, I'll deal with it. I will fix the problem.
So as many of you will be able to tell, I'm not at my home at the moment. I'm away from home and I've had to deal with many insects. So in this room where I am now, there have been spiders and mobs and all sorts of bugs. It's been horrible, but I've had to deal with these insects. I've had to fix the problem. I like kindly let them outside. Expression No. 4 is to think outside the box. And this is really useful one.
So when you think outside the box, that means you're trying to do something in a way that is different and how it's normally done. Maybe you're solving the problem in a creative way, a unique way that no one has fought off before.
I have a very specific example for you. So one of my favorite TV series is called Vikings. And these are about the Scandinavian warriors from the 9th and 10th century. So I believe there was one episode where they were trying to invade France, I think it was. But they didn't want to be caught. They didn't want to go down the river. I'm in their boats. Because then they would be seen by the French. So the leader was thinking outside the box and he carried, or all of them, they carried the boats over the land in secret. Of course, it's a lot of work. But he was thinking outside the box. He was thinking of a creative way to solve his problem. Maybe you haven't done anything that crazy before, but see if you can think of any ways where you have fought outside the box before at your work and your studies, anything like that?
We're going to look at one more today. After that, you will be able to find a bonus video on my email list. So the last expression for today is downtime. So we've got the word down and time. They come together in one word. And this just means time when you're free, when you don't really have much work or any work to be doing. So I'm usually very busy, but in my downtime, I like to play video games or go for a walk or something like that. So maybe think to yourself or, you know, let me know in the comments, how much down time do you have with your work and what do you do in your downtime? Do you spend it wisely? Do you feel like you waste your downtime? Maybe a bit like me sometimes.
Okay, so we have three more expressions, really useful ones. I am gonna send you over to my email list now. So if you have subscribed for my email updates, then you will be receiving this email tomorrow. In the email, you will find the rest of this video with three more workplace expressions. And after you watch it, you know, feel free to send me an email back. Let me know what you think. If you haven't join my email list, you can do so in the show notes for the podcast or a description of the YouTube video wherever you're watching this.
So as promised, I'm going to try to summarize five expressions in a story. I have no idea what I'm going to say, but let's have a go. Let's have a go. I'm gonna read my notes and see what I could do. I was speaking to my boss at work yesterday and we work for a, let's say a clothing company. We work for a clothing company. And my boss gave me a big new project to do. I told him I may have bitten off more than I could chew. It was a really big project. I had to make so many jeans and it was just too much for me to do. He asked me what was going wrong, why was it too much work? So I explain to him in a nutshell, there aren't enough hours in the day. If you want me to make this many jeans, I really have to have more workers or more hours. It's simply not possible to make high quality trousers in such a short amount of time. So my boss and I were thinking of ways to deal with this problem over lunch, and I had a great idea. I was thinking outside the box. And I decided to delegate or to give the jobs of making the jeans to some of the lower paid staff in, because it's not really that hard to make the jeans. And these staff members have so much downtime. So I'm sure they would be more than happy to help out for a little bit of a pay rise.
That's a very weird story. I don't know why I thought of genes. I don't even have any genes, but I guess it made sense. It wasn't the most exciting story, but I challenge you to write your own story. So head over to the comments of the podcast, the video, wherever you want, and write your own story. And of course, I'll be happy to correct any mistakes you might make as well. So that is everything for now.
If you want to finish this video, remember, you can head over to my email list. Thank you very much for those of you who are staying around here. And I will see you for next week's episode. And as I said before, it's an interview with a fellow English teacher. So you do not want to miss it. See you then. Bye bye. You have been listening to the level up English podcast. If you would like to leave a question to be answered on a future your episode, then please go to Level Up English dot school forward slash podcast. That's level up English dot school slash podcast and I'll answer your question on a future episode.
Thanks for listening.
