2010年ESL之商务英语 16 Harming a Professional Reputation

16 Harming a Professional Reputation

GLOSSARY 1

gloom and doom 2 – a feeling that nothing good can happen; a feeling that thefuture will be very bad* Given the current recession, many people spend all of their time talking aboutgloom and doom.

outrageous 3 – very difficult to believe; unfair; extremely surprising* Who would tell such outrageous stories about you?

on the verge 4 of going under – having a lot of financial problems and almostgoing out of business* Our store is on the verge of going under, and if sales don’t increase soon, we’llhave to close the business.

misleading – leading people to incorrect conclusions; making people believesomething that isn’t true* It’s misleading to say that he finished fifth from last, because there were only sixpeople in the race. It would be better to say that he won second place.

outright 5 – completely; entirely 6; totally* That man is an outright criminal who should spend the rest of his life in jail!

irate 7 – very angry and upset* Donors 8 were irate when they found out that the organization was using theirmoney to have big staff parties instead of to help poor people.

innuendo 9 – an indirect statement that suggests something is true, but withoutactually stating it clearly* Is that really true that James has been dating three women at once, or is it justinnuendo?

to be nothing short of (something) – to be something, used when one wants toemphasize how extreme or inappropriate something is* The kind of behavior you’re describing is nothing short of sexual harassment 10.

You should report it to the human resources department.

character assassination 11 – an attack on another person that focuses on who heor she is, or what he or she believes, more than on what he or she has said ordone* This political campaign should have been about important social issues, butinstead it focused on character assassination.

defamation 12 of character – the practice of writing or saying things that are nottrue about another person, making other people dislike him or her* If this defamation of character continues, she’s probably going to lose all of herclients.

reputation – the way one is viewed or perceived by other people; the good orbad opinion that other people have of oneself* I need to find a mechanic who has a good reputation for providing high-qualityservice at a low cost.

image – the way that a person or company is viewed or perceived by otherpeople; the general impression that people have of a person or company* The Department of Motor Vehicles is trying to improve its image by providingfaster, friendlier service.

retraction 14 – a written statement that appears in a newspaper or magazine tocorrect an error that was printed in a previous article* Thousands of people read the incorrect information in the article, butunfortunately very few of them will ever read the retraction in which thenewspaper corrected the mistake.

no-good – worthless; not having any value; of very poor quality* I wish I’d never bought this no-good car. It’s always breaking down.

mudslinger – a person who says bad things about another person to make otherpeople dislike him or her* Who is the mudslinger who’s telling all these lies about us?

to neglect – to fail to do something; to not do something that one should havedone* They’ve neglected their yard for years, never mowing 15 or weeding, and now itlooks terrible.

slander 16 – a spoken lie about another person; something negative and untruethat one says about another person, usually to make other people dislike thatperson* How can their company’s president say these things about our board ofdirectors? Isn’t that slander?

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COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1. What does Alex mean when he asks, “What’s with the gloom and doom?”

a) He wants to know why everyone is so happy.

b) He wants to know why Paige looks so depressed 17.

c) He wants to know why the lights haven’t been turned on.

2. What would you expect a mudslinger to do?

a) Be on the verge of going under.

b) Share misleading information.

c) Print a retraction.

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WHAT ELSE DOES IT MEAN?

to go under

The phrase “to go under,” in this podcast, means to go out of business becauseof financial problems: “What percentage of new restaurants goes under in theirfirst three years?” The phrase “to go about” means to do something, usually onone’s own initiative even if other people aren’t interested in one’s actions:

“Stanley never earned much money, but he went about saving everything hecould for years, and now he’s almost a millionaire.” The phrase “to go behind(someone’s) back” means to do something without letting another person know,or without asking for his or her permission: “Cheryl’s boss was really angry thatshe contacted the client behind his back.” The phrase “to go above and beyondthe call of duty” means to do much more than was expected: “The teacherreceived a special award for going above and beyond the call of duty to help hisstudents academically.”

retractionIn this podcast, the word “retraction” means a written statement that appears in anewspaper or magazine to correct an error that was printed in a previous article:

“The newspaper printed a short retraction apologizing for its error and providingthe correct information.” The verb “to retract 13 (something)” means to say thatwhat one said earlier was not true, or that one did not really intend to say it: “Wewere all shocked when the man said he committed the crime, but even moreshocked when he retracted 18 his confession 19 the next day!” Finally, the verb “toretract” can mean for part of something to go back inside something else: “Oncethe cat calms down, its claws will retract into its paws.”

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CULTURE NOTE

In the United States, people can “sue” (take to court and ask to be paid money)for defamation, “claiming” (saying that something is true) that the “defendant 20” (theperson who is brought to court and accused of a crime) “knowingly” (with fullawareness and knowledge) lied about a person or business in order to harm thereputation of that person or business. Proving that a statement was “false” (nottrue) is pretty “straightforward” (direct; simple; easy), but a false statement isdefamation only if the person who made that statement did it while knowing that itwas false.

Defendants 21 can defend themselves against defamation by arguing that they hada “good-faith belief” in the statement, meaning that they honestly thought thething they were saying was true. In these cases, the defendant will have to“prove” (show evidence of) what information was available to him or her at thetime when the statement was made and show that it was “reasonable” (rational;logical) for him or her to have believed it was true.

Defendants can also defend themselves by arguing that the statement wasmerely their personal “opinion” (what one thinks). It is not illegal to share one’sopinion – in fact, it is protected under “free speech” (freedom from beingpunished for what one believes or says). In these cases, the defendant mustprove that what he or she said was “presented” (shared with others) as apersonal opinion and not as a “statement of fact” (something that is 100% true).

There are other defenses against claims of defamation, but the two describedabove are the most common and best known.

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

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT 22

Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 604: Harming aProfessional Reputation.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode 604. I’m your host, Dr.

Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development inbeautiful Los Angeles, California. It is beautiful today especially; the sun isshining, another beautiful day in L.A. I hope the sun is shining where you are,unless, of course, you’re listening to this at night.

Visit our website at eslpod.com, day or night, and download the Learning Guidefor this episode. Don’t know what a Learning Guide is? Well, go to our websiteand find out!

This episode is called “Harming a Professional Reputation.” “To harm” means todamage. One’s “reputation” is what other people think of you. Let’s get started.

[start of dialogue]

Alex: Good morning. What’s with the gloom and doom?

Paige: Have you seen this morning’s newspaper?

Alex: No, I haven’t.

Paige: You’d better read this. It’s an article about our company.

Alex: Let me see that. This is outrageous! How can anybody print such lies?

We’re not on the verge of going under. How did they get a hold of so muchmisleading and outright wrong information?

Paige: What I’m irate about is what it says about you, as the owner. The articleis full of innuendos 23 about your background. It’s nothing short of characterassassination. We’ll sue the paper for defamation of character.

Alex: I’m not worried about my personal reputation. I’m more concerned aboutthe company’s image. I’m going down to that paper and making them print aretraction.

Paige: How’re you going to do that?

Alex: After I call the reporter a no-good mudslinger, I’ll give him the facts, theones he neglected to include in this story.

Paige: Be careful what you say to him, especially in front of his coworkers. Youdon’t want him suing you for slander!

[end of dialogue]

Our dialogue begins with Alex saying, “Good morning” to Paige. “What’s with thegloom and doom?” “Gloom (gloom) and doom (doom)” is an expression thatmeans that nothing good is going to happen. It’s a feeling that the future will bebad, that bad things will happen soon. “Gloom” means sadness. We sometimestalk here in Los Angeles about the weather in June, we say it’s “June gloom.”

That’s because in the summertime there are often clouds that come in over theocean and it is not sunny out, like it is today. “Doom” is bad things that willhappen. So “gloom and doom” means that you think bad things will happen inthe future.

Paige responds, “Have you seen this morning’s newspaper?” Alex says, “No, Ihaven’t.” Paige replies, “You better read this (in other words, you should readthis). It’s an article about our company.” Alex says, “Let me see that. This isoutrageous!” he says. Something that is “outrageous” means it’s very surprising,very difficult to believe. Often it’s used to describe something that is very unfair,something that is wrong. Alex says, “How can anybody print such lies?” “Print”

meaning publish, in this case, in a newspaper. “We’re not on the verge of goingunder,” he says. “To be on the verge of (something)” means to be almost readyto (something): “He is on the verge of asking her out on a date.” All he needs isa little beer to give him courage!

Well here, we’re talking about being on the verge of going under. “To go under”

is a two-word phrasal verb that means to fail, to have a lot of financial problems,to go out of business, to lose your business. Alex says that their company is noton the verge of going under. He says, “How did they get a hold of (meaning howdid they obtain, how did they get) so much misleading and outright wronginformation?” “Misleading” means that you are telling people something that willmake them come to the incorrect – the wrong conclusions. You’re makingpeople believe something that isn’t true. That’s misleading. The prefix 24 “mis”

(mis) usually is related to a negative idea. We could say something was“mishandled,” meaning it wasn’t dealt with – it wasn’t handled correctly. Or, you could say, “I mislaid my watch.” “Laid” comes from the verb “to lay” (lay),meaning to put something down. Well, if you mislaid your watch (past tense),you put it somewhere and now you can’t remember where it is. Sort of like mybrain, my wife tells me! Alex says that the information in the newspaper ismisleading and outright wrong. “Outright” (one word) means completely, totally,entirely, usually something that is completely wrong or totally wrong.

Paige says, “What I’m irate about is what it says about you, as the owner.” “Tobe irate” (irate) means to be very angry, to be very upset. Paige says, “Thearticle is full of innuendos about your background.” An “innuendo” (innuendo) isan indirect statement that suggests something is true but without actually sayingit’s true. For example, you don’t go to work one day because you say that youare sick. The next day you go to work and your boss says, “Well, you recoveredvery quickly from your illness.” “To recover” means to get better. But, the boss ismaking a joke here; he’s really making an innuendo. He’s saying that youweren’t really sick. “It’s nothing short of character assassination,” Paige saysabout what the newspaper says about Alex. The phrase “to be nothing short of”

means to be something, used usually when we want to emphasize how extremeor inappropriate something is. So, it’s kind of a strange expression. Althoughyou have a negative word, “nothing,” you’re really saying the opposite; you’resaying that this is true. “What he did is nothing short of theft (to stealsomething).” “Nothing short of” means it actually is theft; he actually did stealsomething. Here, the newspaper printed or published some innuendos aboutAlex that Paige thinks are nothing short of character assassination, meaning it ischaracter assassination. “Character assassination” is when you attack anotherperson because of who he or she is or what they may believe, even though it hasnothing to do with their job or whatever it is that they are famous for or known for.

Politics is full of character assassination, where the political candidates try to saybad things about the other person, often using innuendos. This is an excellentexample.

Paige says, “We’ll sue the paper for defamation of character.” “To sue” means totake them to court and have them pay money because of what they did, becauseit was wrong, because it damaged you, it hurt you, it harmed you. “Defamation”

comes from the verb “to defame,” which means to say bad things about anotherperson. “Character” describes who a person is: their honesty, their loyalty 25, andso forth 26. So, “defamation of character” is to harm someone’s character, to saybad things – untrue things about them.

Alex says, “I’m not worried about my personal reputation (what other people thinkof me). I’m more concerned about the company’s image.” The “image” is similar to reputation; it’s how other people see you, or how other people see or viewyour company. He says, “I’m going down to that paper (I’m going to get in mycar and go over to their building) and make them print a retraction.” A “retraction”

is when a newspaper or magazine admits that they made a mistake, that theycommitted an error, and they publish that in the newspaper. They put that in thenext day or the next week’s issue of the newspaper or magazine. “Retraction,”

as the expression “to go under,” has different meanings; take a look at theLearning Guide for more of those.

Paige says, “How’re you going to do that?” Alex replies, “After I call the reporter(the journalist, the person who wrote the story) a no-good mudslinger, I’ll givehim the facts.” “No-good” means a very poor quality, not very good, worthless. A“mudslinger” is a person who says bad things about another person so thateveryone will dislike that other person. “To sling” means to throw. “Mud” is, ofcourse, the earth – ground, when you put water on it. So, we’re saying that thisperson, just like someone who throws mud at someone else, is trying to dosomething harmful to them by saying false things about them. Alex says he’sgoing to give the reporter the facts, the facts that he neglected to include in thisstory. “To neglect” means not to do something you should have done, to fail todo something.

Paige says, “Be careful what you say to him, especially in front of his coworkers(his colleagues, the people he works with at the newspaper). You don’t want himsuing you for slander!” “Slander” (slander) is when someone says somethingfalse about you. “Libel” (libel) is when someone writes something false anddamaging about you.

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

[start of dialogue]

Alex: Good morning. What’s with the gloom and doom?

Paige: Have you seen this morning’s newspaper?

Alex: No, I haven’t.

Paige: You’d better read this. It’s an article about our company.

Alex: Let me see that. This is outrageous! How can anybody print such lies?

We’re not on the verge of going under. How did they get a hold of so muchmisleading and outright wrong information?

Paige: What I’m irate about is what it says about you, as the owner. The articleis full of innuendos about your background. It’s nothing short of characterassassination. We’ll sue the paper for defamation of character.

Alex: I’m not worried about my personal reputation. I’m more concerned aboutthe company’s image. I’m going down to that paper and making them print aretraction.

Paige: How’re you going to do that?

Alex: After I call the reporter a no-good mudslinger, I’ll give him the facts, theones he neglected to include in this story.

Paige: Be careful what you say to him, especially in front of his coworkers. Youdon’t want him suing you for slander!

[end of dialogue]

I don’t want to neglect to thank our wonderful scriptwriter, Dr. Lucy Tse. Thankyou, Lucy.

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.