2010年ESL之商务英语 22 Introducing a New Product

22 Introducing a New Product

GLOSSARY 1

to give (someone) the heads up – to let someone know what will happenahead of time; to give someone information before most other people have it; tolet someone know something early* The CFO gave us the heads up that there might be pay cuts next quarter.

to roll out – for a company to introduce and begin selling a new product orservice* Our restaurant is rolling out a new menu for the summer.

state-of-the-art – very modern and advanced, using the newest and besttechnology* The hospital has a state-of-the-art cancer center.

never-before-seen – new, never existing before; unlike anything else availablenow or in the past* This special anniversary DVD includes never-before-seen scenes that wereedited out of the movie.

in development – being worked on but not yet finished* The new medication has been in development for years, but so far nopharmaceutical companies have received approval to market it.

to keep (something) under wraps – to keep something a secret; to not shareinformation about something* The politicians are trying to keep the story under wraps, but I doubt they can doit for very long.

to leak – to share secret information with the media or with the public when oneknows that one is not supposed to do so* The government will punish anyone who leaks national secrets to othercountries.

rumor 2 – something that may or may not be true, but that is said to many peopleand becomes well-known* We heard a rumor that you won’t be teaching here next year. Is that true?

to put a clamp on (something) – to stop something from happening, usually byusing significant force, strength, or power* How can we put a clamp on this lawsuit 3?

to come out – to be released; to be introduced; to be made available to thepublic* When does the company expect to come out with a new version of its softwareprogram?

to get a jump on (someone) – to do something before someone else can do it;to do something faster or sooner than another person can do it* Geremie got a jump on his classmates by taking courses during the summerbreak, and now he’ll be able to graduate earlier than the rest of his class.

to steal (someone’s) thunder – to receive praise or approval that normallywould have been for someone else; to do something that takes attention awayfrom what another person has done* I can’t believe your sister stole your thunder by announcing that she waspregnant on the day of your wedding. She should have waited, so thateveryone’s attention could be on you that day!

to scramble 4 – to do something very quickly; to use all of one’s availableresources to get something done sooner than one would normally be able to* It will be difficult to finish the report by Thursday, but if we scramble, I think wecan do it.

ahead of schedule – before something is due; before the deadline* If the company finishes building the bridge ahead of schedule, it will receive abonus payment.

to make a splash – to do something that attracts a lot of attention and is noticedby many people* The young designer really made a splash with his unusual clothing at thefashion show.

hype – buzz; things that are said about a product to make people moreinterested in it and want to buy it, often before it is available* Do you believe all the hype about how this fruit can help you lose weight?

justified 5 – with a logical, acceptable reason or explanation; something that canbe explained rationally and made to seem fair or right* If someone is starving, can stealing food be justified?

to beg – to plead; to ask someone to do or give something in an urgent way* The drunk man at the bar begged for Katherine’s phone number, but shewouldn’t give it to him.

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COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1. What can a company do to keep something under wraps?

a) Give the heads up.

b) Leak the information.

c) Put a clamp on rumors 6.

2. What does Augie mean by saying that they “had to scramble to get thephones ready ahead of schedule”?

a) They had to go over their budget.

b) They had to decrease the product’s quality.

c) They had to work really hard.

______________

WHAT ELSE DOES IT MEAN?

to roll out

The phrase “to roll out,” in this podcast, means for a company to introduce andbegin selling a new product or service: “When did you roll out the new website?”

The phrase “to roll out of bed” means to get out of bed and stand up: “Clarke’salarm clock went off at 6:45, but he didn’t roll out of bed until almost 7:20.” Thephrase “to roll out the red carpet” means to prepare for an important visitor orguest, making everything as nice as possible: “Shane really rolled out the redcarpet when his boss and her husband came to his house for dinner.” Finally,the phrase “to roll (something) out” means to make something flat and thin bypushing something else down against it and rolling it in different directions: “Tomake pizza, first you need to roll out the dough 7 and then put it on a pan.”

to scramble

In this podcast, the verb “to scramble” means to do something very quickly, or touse all of one’s available resources to get something done sooner than onewould normally be able to: “Ira scrambled 8 to clean the house before his wifecame home from work.” When cooking, the verb “to scramble” means to cookeggs by stirring them constantly in a hot pan: “Do you add milk or water whenyou scramble eggs?” The verb “to scramble” also means to move quickly overan uneven 9 surface: “The hikers scrambled over the rocky terrain 10.” Finally, the informal phrase “to scramble (someone’s) brains” means to make it difficult forsomeone to think clearly: “That young woman has scrambled your brains! Eversince you started dating her, you’ve been unable to concentrate on your work.”

______________CULTURE NOTECompanies often want to “test” (see how well something works) their newproducts before they “release” (make available) them to the “general public” (allpeople; ordinary people). That way, they can identify and correct problems lessexpensively and with little or no impact on their “brand image” (the opinions thatpeople have about a company or product). This is especially true for technologycompanies.

Many technology companies offer “beta versions” of their products. A betaversion is software that isn’t completely finished or tested, but people agree touse it anyway, reporting any “bugs” (errors in a computer program) to themanufacturer so that they can be fixed 11. Eventually the beta version is “modified”

(changed) and improved until it can be sold to the general public.

Other companies offer their products by invitation so that they can “limit” (putrestrictions on) who has access to it. Gmail is a good example of this. WhenGoogle “launched” (started; introduced) its email program, it was done byinvitation. Only people who received invitations could open a Gmail account. Inthis way, Google could “monitor” (observe) how a small number of people wereusing Gmail and make changes as needed before there were too manyaccounts.

Finally, some companies offer their software as “freeware” (software programsthat can be used without paying a fee). Companies allow people to use and trytheir software, and at the same time, the company continues makingimprovements. When the company feels it has enough people interested in thesoftware and/or has a version that it believes people will buy, the company maythen make the final version available for sale.

______________Comprehension Questions Correct Answers: 1 – c; 2 – c

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPTWelcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 628: Introducing aNew Product.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode 628. I’m your host, Dr.

Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development inbeautiful Los Angeles, California.

Our website is eslpod.com. Go there to download a Learning Guide for thisepisode that will help you improve your English – and your looks – even faster.

This episode is called “Introducing a New Product.” It’s a dialogue betweenAugie and Lillian. Let’s get started.

[start of dialogue]

Augie: Today’s the day. I’m giving you the heads up. Our company is rolling outits new line of cell phones.

Lillian: I can see you’re excited about it. What’s so special about the newproducts?

Augie: This line of phones has state-of-the-art technology and never-beforeseenfeatures. It’s been in development for over a year and it’s been really hardkeeping it under wraps.

Lillian: I thought information was leaked weeks ago.

Augie: Those were just rumors, and the company put a clamp on those prettyquickly.

Lillian: Wasn’t the new line supposed to come out next month?

Augie: That was the original plan, but since McQ Corp. is coming out with itsown line of phones soon, we wanted to get a jump on them.

Lillian: And steal their thunder.

Augie: Yes, and steal their thunder. We had to scramble to get the phonesready ahead of schedule, but I think it was worth it. They’re really going to makea splash.

Lillian: I hope so. I hope all of this hype has been justified.

Augie: Oh, it will be. I’ll know soon enough.

Lillian: How?

Augie: You’ll be begging me to get you one.

[end of dialogue]

Our dialogue begins with Augie saying, “Today’s the day. I’m giving you theheads up. Our company is rolling out its new line of cell phones.” To give(someone) the heads up” means to let someone know something is going tohappen in the future, to give someone information before other people may haveit; you’re letting them know early about something. “My friend in the accountingdepartment gave me a heads up about how the company was doing this year.”

He gave me some information before other people got it. In this case, Augie isgiving Lillian the heads up about the fact that their company is rolling out its newline of cell phones. “To roll (roll) out” is a two-word phrasal verb meaning when acompany introduces and begins selling a new product or service. We use thisverb, “to roll out,” meaning to launch, to begin a new product, start sellingsomething different. “Line” here, as in “new line of cell phones,” just means anew group or a new set of cell phones. “Roll” has several meanings in English;take a look at our Learning Guide for some additional explanations.

Lillian says, “I can see you’re excited about it. What’s so special about the newproducts?” Augie says, “This line of phones has state-of-the-art technology andnever-before-seen features.” “State-of-the-art,” with hyphens in between eachword, means very modern, very advanced, the newest and the best technology –state-of-the-art technology. We use state-of-the-art typically to talk aboutmachines or computers, something mechanical. “Never-before-seen,” also withhyphens in between the words – never-before-seen – means that no one hasever seen or experienced something like this; it’s completely new, it neverexisted before in the past.

Augie thinks their cell phones have never-before-seen features. He says, “It’sbeen in development for over a year (for more than a year) and it’s been really hard keeping it under wraps.” When something is “in development” we meanthat it is being worked on by a company but it isn’t finished yet. We use thisexpression a lot here in Los Angeles in talking about movies and films, and whenI say “we,” I mean people who work in films and movies – not me. When theysay “in development,” they’re referring to something that is not yet produced,often not even yet filmed, but something that they are working on. In fact, there’seven an expression “a development deal” (deal), or a development agreement.

When one of the big media companies decides to do something about aparticular series or idea, they make an agreement with a person and theydevelop the idea – they work on it.

Augie says that it’s been really hard to keep this new cell phone under wraps.

“To keep (something) under wraps” (wraps) means to keep something secret, notto share information about it to other people. Lillian says, “I thought informationwas leaked weeks ago.” The verb “to leak” (leak) in this case means to sharesecret information with the newspaper or with the general public or on theInternet about your company or about your organization. Typically, it’s secretinformation that you are not supposed to tell anyone else. There are leaks all thetime of information from the government. Somebody tells the media – tells thenewspapers about some secret, that’s called a leak.

Augie says, “Those were just rumors.” A “rumor” is something that is unofficial,and may or may not be true but many people are talking about it. There arerumors that Brad Pitt is considering making a movie about my life. Actually, I’mstarting that rumor. If you could tell other people, then we would have a rumor;people would be talking about it. It’s not necessarily true, however. I’ll let youguess whether it is true or not! Augie says, “the company put a clamp on thosepretty quickly.” “To put a clamp (clamp) on (something)” means to stopsomething from happening or to stop it from continuing to happen, typically bydoing something drastic – that is, with a lot of force, power, or strength. Well, thecompany put a clamp on those rumors pretty, or very, quickly.

Lillian says, “Wasn’t the new line supposed to come out next month?” Thephrasal verb “to come out,” in this case only, means to be released, to beintroduced to something, to be made available to the public. So a company thathas a new thing it is selling will say the new phone, for example, is coming out inJuly, meaning that’s when you can buy it – in July.

Augie says, “That was the original plan, but since McQ Corp. is coming out withits own line of phones soon, we wanted to get a jump on them.” “To get a jumpon (someone)” means to do something before someone else does it before you, to do something faster or sooner than another person, often when you arecompeting with that other person. You may decide to get a jump on yourschooling by taking classes in the summer, when everyone else will start in thefall. You’re doing it before everyone else. Lillian says, “And steal their thunder.”

So, Augie is saying that their company is releasing their phone now, before theMcQ Corp. releases their new phone. The reason, Lillian says, is to steal theirthunder. “Thunder” is normally the sound that is made when there is a big stormand there is what is called lightning, which are very powerful electrical chargesthat appear sometimes in a big storm. In this case, however, “to steal(someone’s) thunder” means to take attention away from someone else, or to getthe praise of other people before the other person can. It’s normally somethingyou don’t want to do, unless you don’t want to be nice to someone. In this case,the company wants to make sure that its new product gets publicity 12 before McQCorp.’s new phone.

Augie says, “Yes, and steal their thunder. We had to scramble to get the phonesready ahead of schedule, but I think it was worth it.” “To scramble” here meansto do something very quickly, to do it faster than you would normally do it.

“Scramble,” however, has a couple of different meanings in English, and thoseare in the Learning Guide. They were scrambling 13 to get the phones ready“ahead of schedule,” meaning before the deadline, before the day that it wassupposed to be done. If your schedule says you’re finishing the product or theproject next Tuesday, and you decide you want to finish it on this Friday, you arefinishing it ahead of schedule, before the original plan.

Augie says the new phones are really going to make a splash (splash). “Tomake a splash” means to do something that attracts a lot of attention, that manypeople look at or notice. Lillian says, “I hope so. I hope all of this hype has beenjustified.” “Hype” (hype) is things that are said about a product that make peoplemore interested in wanting to buy it, often before it is even available. You couldtalk about the hype over a new movie: people are talking about it; people aresaying how good it is. Hype is always a positive thing – at least positive thingsbeing said about this new thing that is not yet available. However, it’s alsosometimes used to mean that people are exaggerating – are saying things thatare better about it than it really is.

Lillian says she hopes the hype has been justified, meaning something that youcan support, something for which there’s evidence, something that shows that itreally is what it says it is. Augie says, “Oh, it will be. I’ll know soon enough,”

meaning very quickly, soon. Lillian says, “How?” Augie says, “You’ll be begging me to get one.” “To beg” (beg) means to plead, to ask someone to do somethingin a very urgent way. “Please help me.” You’re begging for help.

Now let’s listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.

[start of dialogue]

Augie: Today’s the day. I’m giving you the heads up. Our company is rolling outits new line of cell phones.

Lillian: I can see you’re excited about it. What’s so special about the newproducts?

Augie: This line of phones has state-of-the-art technology and never-beforeseenfeatures. It’s been in development for over a year and it’s been really hardkeeping it under wraps.

Lillian: I thought information was leaked weeks ago.

Augie: Those were just rumors, and the company put a clamp on those prettyquickly.

Lillian: Wasn’t the new line supposed to come out next month?

Augie: That was the original plan, but since McQ Corp. is coming out with itsown line of phones soon, we wanted to get a jump on them.

Lillian: And steal their thunder.

Augie: Yes, and steal their thunder. We had to scramble to get the phonesready ahead of schedule, but I think it was worth it. They’re really going to makea splash.

Lillian: I hope so. I hope all of this hype has been justified.

Augie: Oh, it will be. I’ll know soon enough.

Lillian: How?

Augie: You’ll be begging me to get you one.

[end of dialogue]

The hype around our scriptwriter is definitely justified. That’s because it’s Dr.

Lucy Tse, who has never-before-seen – or heard – dialogues for you each week.

From Los Angeles, California, I’m Jeff McQuillan. Thank you for listening. Comeback and listen to us next time on ESL Podcast.

English as a Second Language Podcast is written and produced by Dr. Lucy Tse,hosted by Dr. Jeff McQuillan, copyright 2010 by the Center for EducationalDevelopment.