ESL商务英语: ESL Podcast 296 – Bad Manners at a Business Lunch

ESL Podcast 296 – Bad Manners at a Business Lunch

GLOSSARY

client – customer; a person who buys products or services from a company* This bank has more than 3,000 clients in this city.

manners – the way that one behaves around other people, either politely orrudely; the way one does things around other people* Theresa has good manners because she always says “please” and “thank you.”

unprofessional – not professional; not appropriate for the work environment* Most people would consider it unprofessional for employees of one company toask employees of another company how much money they make.

rough around the edges – not polished; not refined; having the ability to dosomething well, but not yet doing it well* Kyle is a good piano player, but he is still rough around the edges, and heneeds a great teacher to help him get better.

previous – prior; earlier; the one before this one* I like my new job a lot.  My previous job paid less and I didn’t like the work.

to air (someone’s) dirty laundry – to tell someone’s bad secrets to anotherperson; to share secret information about something bad that shouldn’t beshared* Walter was airing his kids’ dirty laundry during the party by telling everyoneabout the problems they were having in school.

blunder – a mistake; an error; something that was done incorrectly* Alberto made a blunder by accidentally telling Jackie about the surprisebirthday party everyone was planning for her.

clueless – not knowing what is happening; unaware; not able to understandsomething* Ang is so clueless about money and finances that his parents still help himmanage his bank account, even though he’s 30 years old.

distracted – not paying attention to something because one is thinking aboutsomething else* Yanna has been very distracted at work because she has been thinking abouther mother’s illness.

excuse – a reason for having done or not having done something; somethingused to explain why something happened or didn’t happen* Many children say, “The dog ate my homework!” as an excuse for not havingfinished their homework.

kicker – the most important, shocking, or surprising thing* Ulysses’ boss was angry about the project and yelled at him, but the kicker was when his boss actually threw the papers across the room at him.

to pick up the tab – to pay for a group meal; to pay for the food and drinks ofeveryone who is at the table* At dinner last night, Ulma picked up the tab to thank us for helping her find anew apartment.

mortified – very embarrassed; very ashamed* Emma was mortified when her boyfriend drank too much and started singingand dancing at the party.

to see red – to be very angry; to be very mad* Josea was seeing red when he realized that someone had stolen his wallet.

a little while – a short period of time; soon* We were full after eating a big dinner, so we decided to wait a little while beforeeating dessert.

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS1.  What did George do wrong at the lunch?

a)  He brought his dirty laundry.

b)  He picked up the tab.

c)  He was rude and unprofessional.

2.  What is Yolanda going to do?

a)  She’s going to see red.

b)  She’s going to talk to George.

c)  She’s going to be mortified.

______________WHAT ELSE DOES IT MEAN?

mannersThe word “manners,” in this podcast, means the way that one behaves aroundother people: “If you interrupt other people’s conversations, they will think thatyou have bad manners.”  “To have good manners” means to be polite, and “tohave bad manners” means to be rude.  If someone says, “Mind your manners!” itmeans that you should pay attention to how you are acting, because you need tobe more polite.  This is something parents may say to their children.  The word“manner” also means the way that someone does something: “A good teachershould have a relaxed manner when speaking with his or her students.”  The way that a doctor acts around his or her patients is known as “bedside manner”: “Dr.

Ortega has an excellent bedside manner that helps his patients feel morecomfortable.”

excuseIn this podcast, the word “excuse” means a reason that one gives for (not) havingdone something: “Gregory’s excuse for not having stopped to talk to us yesterday was that he was in a hurry to get to the office.”  As a verb, “to excuse” means toforgive someone for something: “Please excuse Vikki for not being at the meetingtoday, but she was called away to our downtown office.”  When you need tointerrupt a conversation, it’s a good idea to say, “Excuse me!” because this is apolite way to tell the other people that you need to say something, even though itis rude to speak when they are speaking.  At the end of a meal at home, childrenare sometimes taught to say, “May I be excused?” because this is a polite way toask for permission to leave the table.

CULTURE NOTEHaving good “table manners,” or the way that one acts when eating, is extremely important at a business lunch.  Bad manners can mean losing a job or a client. Here are some “tips” (ideas and suggestions) for things that business peopleshould do – and not do – during a business lunch.

When “ordering” (telling the waiter what you would like to eat or drink), try toorder foods that won’t be “messy” (dirty) to eat.  “Avoid” (don’t order) foods withlong noodles, or foods that need to be eaten with your hands.  If possible, ordersomething similar to what the “host” (the person who invited you to the meal) is ordering.  Order alcohol only if the host does.

While you’re eating, use the right plates, glasses, and “silverware” (forks, knives,and spoons).  Never reach in front of another person.  If you can’t reachsomething, say, “Could you please pass the…?”

Remember that if people are “toasting” (touching their wine glasses together tocelebrate), toast only with the people who are nearest to you.  If people are faraway, look at them, raise your glass, and gently “nod” (quickly move your headup and down).

Always bring your fork up to your mouth.  Never move your head down to yourfork.  Eat slowly, taking time to “chew each bite” (put food in your mouth andmove your teeth up and down to make the food smaller).  Finally, when the mealis finished, don’t use a “toothpick” (a small, pointed wooden stick) to “pick yourteeth” (try to remove food that is between your teeth).  Instead, go to thebathroom where people can’t see you picking your teeth.

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

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPTWelcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 296: Bad Manners at a Business Lunch.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode 296.  I'm your host, Dr.

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

Visit our website at eslpod.com and download a Learning Guide for this episode. It contains all of the vocabulary, definitions, sample sentences, additionalexplanations, cultural notes, a comprehension quiz, and a complete transcript ofthis episode.  You can also get free tickets to Hawaii in the Learning Guide. Those are bus tickets, however!

In this episode, we're going to listen to a conversation between Yolanda andSunan talking about a lunch they had and one of their coworkers (one of theircolleagues) who had very bad manners (who did not behave very well).  Let's getstarted.

[start of story]

Yolanda:  I will never invite George to another business lunch with clients again!

Sunan:  Why, what happened?

Yolanda:  George has the worst manners of anyone I know.  First of all, he was ten minutes late.  And as soon as he sat down, his cell phone rang and heanswered it!

Sunan:  Maybe it was an important call?

Yolanda:  From his girlfriend?  It was completely unprofessional. Sunan:  I know George is a little rough around the edges, but he’s not that bad.

Yolanda:  You don’t think so?  After I introduced him to the clients, he told themthat he had been up late the previous night, because one of our other accountrepresentatives didn’t finish her proposal and he had to complete it.  Everyoneknows not to air their company’s dirty laundry in public, especially in front ofclients.

Sunan:  Okay, that was a blunder.  Normally, George isn’t so clueless.  I wonderif he was distracted.

Yolanda:  I don’t buy that as an excuse.  And here’s the kicker: He ordered twodrinks during lunch!  If that weren’t bad enough, when he ordered his secondone, he jokingly thanked the clients for paying for lunch.  Of course our company was picking up the tab since we invited them!  I was mortified. Sunan:  I’ll admit that that was bad, very bad.  Are you going to have a talk withGeorge?

Yolanda:  I will as soon as I calm down a little.  I’m seeing red right now. Sunan:  Then waiting a little while is a good idea.  I’d better go warn George... [end of story]

Our dialogue begins with Yolanda complaining to Sunan, telling him herproblems (her complaint) against one of their coworkers (someone who works with them).

Yolanda says, “I will never invite George to another business lunch with clients again!”  She’s angry; she's upset.  She went to lunch with some clients; a “client”

is a customer, someone who buys products or services from a company.

Sunan asks her, “Why, what happened?”  Yolanda says, “George has the worstmanners of anyone I know.”  “Manners” is the way that you act toward otherpeople, the way you behave around other people.  You can be nice, we wouldsay “polite,” or you can be bad around them, we would say you are “rude.”  It's the way that you do things around other people; it's called “manners.”  You canhave good manners or bad manners.

Yolanda says that George “was ten minutes late” (he came to the dinner tenminutes late).  “And as soon as he sat down (at the table), his cell phone rangand he answered it!”  In other words, he did not get up from the table and answerhis phone outside; he answered it at the table with other people sitting aroundlistening.  This is something I have seen people do, but I really hate that!  I really hate when people get a cell phone call and don't go outside and talk.  Instead,they right in front of you, which I think is rather bad manners.

Sunan says, “Maybe it was an important call?”  Yolanda then responds, “Fromhis girlfriend?” meaning the phone call was from George's girlfriend.  She says, “It was completely unprofessional.”  “Unprofessional” means not professional, notappropriate for work or a work environment.

Sunan says, “I know George is a little rough around the edges, but he’s not thatbad.”  To be “rough around the edges” means to be not polished or not refined. It's an idiom that says that a person has the ability to do something well; they could do it, but they're not yet doing it well.  They're not trained or they're noteducated, or whatever they need to do something better.  Someone who is “rough around the edges” is someone who is going to do a good job in the futureat something, but not right now.

Yolanda says, “You don’t think so?” meaning you don't think he's that bad, he's bad.  Yolanda goes on to say, “After I introduced him to the clients, he told themthat he had been up the previous night, because one of our other accountrepresentatives didn’t finish her proposal and he had to complete it.”  The“previous night” is the night before this one; it means “prior” or “earlier”

(something that happened before).  So, the “previous night” would be last night(yesterday at night).

What happened here is George told the clients that someone in the company didn't do their job and he had to stay up (or be awake) until late in the evening tofinish this proposal.

Yolanda says, “Everyone knows not to air (air) their company’s dirty laundry (laundry) in public.”  To “air your dirty laundry in public” means to tell someoneyour secrets; to share secret information with other people that you shouldn't tellother people.  So in this case, George is telling the clients about some bad thingsthat happened in the company; this is “airing his (or the company's) dirty laundry.”  To “air” normally means to take your clothes and put them outside,perhaps because you were sitting next someone who was smoking and yourclothes smell of smoke, so you want to “air them out.”

Sunan says, “Okay, that was a blunder” (blunder).  A “blunder” is a mistake (anerror, something that was done wrong).  Usually not a serious mistake but it's amistake; it's an error.  Sunan says, “Normally, George isn’t so clueless.”  To be“clueless” (clueless) means not to know or understand what is happening (whatis going on), to be unable to understand something.  It's somewhat of an informalexpression; it's a negative description of someone.  There was actually a movieabout some rich high school girls that was called Clueless.  But normally it's aninsult; it's a negative thing to say someone is “clueless,” means they're not very smart; they don't understand things.

Sunan says, “I wonder” why George “was distracted.”  To be “distracted” means not to pay attention to something because you are thinking about something elseor doing something else.  For example, you're driving in your car and you arelooking for a radio station to listen to, and you hit the car in front of you.  Youwere “distracted,” you were not paying attention to your driving when you werelooking for the radio station or talking on your cell phone.

Yolanda says, “I don’t buy that as an excuse.”  An “excuse” is a reason why someone did something or didn't do something.  It's a way of explaining why something happened or didn't happen.  That word has a couple of differentmeanings; take a look at our Learning Guide for additional explanations of thatword and the word “manners,” which we used earlier in the dialogue.

Yolanda says, “here’s the kicker.”  In this case, “kicker” (kicker) is an informalword that means the most important or the most surprising thing.  If you aredescribing several bad things, and then at the end you say the worst thing, youcould say, “here's the kicker” – here's the worst or most important or mostsurprising thing.  “He ordered two drinks during lunch!”  George ordered twoalcoholic drinks – two beers, for example – during lunch.  That is usually not agood idea, if you are at a business lunch, to order more than one drink; at leastthat's what some people think. After he ordered his drink, he joked with the clients by thanking them for payingfor lunch.  Yolanda says, “Of course our company was picking up the tab” (tab). To “pick up the tab” means to pay for someone else's meal, in this case the foodand drinks of everyone who's at the table (the clients).  To “pick up the tab”

means to pay for someone else, usually to pay for their food at dinner.  So,George made a joke about the clients paying for lunch, when, of course, it was Yolanda and George's company that was going to “pick up the tab.”  “Tab” is justanother word for bill (what you have to pay). Yolanda says, “I was mortified.”  To be “mortified” means to be very embarrassed, to be very ashamed.  Sunan says, “I’ll admit that that was bad,very bad.  Are you going to have a talk with George?” – are you going to talk tohim about it?

Yolanda says, “I will as soon as I calm down a little” – as soon as I am less upset(less mad).  “I’m seeing red right now,” she says.  The expression to “see red”

means to be very angry (to get very mad).  If you go to a bullfight in Mexico orSpain, the bullfighter (the person who is going to try to kill the bull) will have a redpiece of cloth that he waves back and forth.  The idea is that the red will makethe bull mad (angry).  Actually, I believe bulls are “color blind,” meaning they cannot see color.  But, they still use the color red, and we have the expression to“see red” (to get very angry).  Sunan says, “waiting a little while is a good idea.” A “little while” is a short period of time, soon. Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.

[start of story]

Yolanda:  I will never invite George to another business lunch with clients again!

Sunan:  Why, what happened?

Yolanda:  George has the worst manners of anyone I know.  First of all, he was ten minutes late.  And as soon as he sat down, his cell phone rang and heanswered it!

Sunan:  Maybe it was an important call?

Yolanda:  From his girlfriend?  It was completely unprofessional. Sunan:  I know George is a little rough around the edges, but he’s not that bad.

Yolanda:  You don’t think so?  After I introduced him to the clients, he told themthat he had been up late the previous night, because one of our other accountrepresentatives didn’t finish her proposal and he had to complete it.  Everyoneknows not to air their company’s dirty laundry in public, especially in front ofclients.

Sunan:  Okay, that was a blunder.  Normally, George isn’t so clueless.  I wonderif he was distracted.

Yolanda:  I don’t buy that as an excuse.  And here’s the kicker: He ordered twodrinks during lunch!  If that weren’t bad enough, when he ordered the secondone, he jokingly thanked the clients for paying for lunch.  Of course our company was picking up the tab since we invited them!  I was mortified. Sunan:  I’ll admit that that was bad, very bad.  Are you going to have a talk withGeorge?

Yolanda:  I will as soon as I calm down a little.  I’m seeing red right now. Sunan:  Then waiting a little while is a good idea.  I’d better go warn George...  

[end of story]

The script for this podcast was written by Dr. Lucy Tse. From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.  Thanks for listening.  We'll seeyou next time on ESL Podcast.

English as a Second Language Podcast is written and produced by Dr. Lucy Tse,hosted by Dr. Jeff McQuillan.  This podcast is copyright 2007.