You Are Fired!
你被解雇了
对话 Dialogue
Hi Isabel! You wanted to see me?
嗨，伊莎贝尔！你找我？
Yes Anthony, come on in. Have a seat.
是的，安东尼，进来吧。请坐。
Is everything okay? You seem a bit preoccupied.
一切都还好吗？你好像有点心事。
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.
嗯，安东尼，这不会是一次轻松的谈话。公司做了一些决定，会直接影响你的工作。
Okay...
好吧……
I don’t want to beat around the bush so I’m just gonna come out with it. We are going to have to let you go.
我不想拐弯抹角，就直说了。我们得让你走了。
What? Why? I mean... just like that? I’m fired?
什么？为什么？我是说……就这样？我被解雇了？
I’m sorry but, to be honest, you are a terrible employee!
很抱歉，但说实话，你是个很糟糕的员工！
What! I resent that!
什么！我不同意这种说法！
Anthony, you were caught making international calls from the office phone, you called in sick in eight times this month and you smell like alcohol!
安东尼，你被逮到用办公室电话打国际长途，这个月请了八次病假，而且你身上有酒味！
完整节目 Full Program
Hello, English learners! Welcome back to EnglishPod! My name is Marco.
And I’m Erica.
And today we’re bringing you a great office lesson.
That’s right, but actually I hope this situation never happens to any of our listeners.
Hehe. Exactly, today we’re firing somebody, so…
Yikes! Hehe.
It is a little bit complicated, but maybe you are an HR manager, maybe you are a supervisor and you’ll have to do this one day, so… gotta learn how, right? [NOTE: HR = Human Resources]
Exactly. Alright, well, why don’t we get started then, as we listen to Isabel and Anthony?
He did sound a little bit like he had too much to drink and…
I know he had that kind of…
Slur. [NOTE: I guess slurred speech is like indistinct speech; gabble]
Yeah… Yeah, that… that slow way of talking, that made him seem a little bit drunk.
Hehe. Well, that’s definitely something you don’t wanna do is show up to work with alcohol on your breath. [NOTE: show up = appear]
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”? Voice: Language takeaway.
Alright, well, I wanna 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, s…
Why don’t we take a listen to a few examples of how this word is used? Voice: Example one.
James is really preoccupied. I think he’s having some family problems. Voice: Example two.
Oh, were you talking to me, honey? I’m sorry. I’m just really preoccupied with work.
Alright, so, very clear now. Preoccupied. Let’s move on to our next word – direct impact.
Direct impact.
A direct impact.
Alright, so, again, Isable told Anthony, that the decision will have a direct impact on his career.
Uhu.
It will have a noticeable or… impact or effect on his career.
Okay, so, a direct impact. And what about our last word? [NOTE: we’ve discussed this issue already; please see Erica’s post on this one]
Well, Anthony said “I resent that”.
Resent.
Resent.
Okay, now, this is spelled exactly like reSent. Like with an S, right?
That’s right. R-E-S-E-N-T.
But you pronounce it like a Z.
Uhu. ReZent.
ReZent 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.
Alright, 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 work.
Yeah.
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.
Uhu.
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. DIALOGUE, SECOND TIME (slow)
Well, 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”. Voice: Fluency builder.
We have three phrases hare. And the first one is to beat around the bush.
Okay, beat abound the bush.
Beat around the bush.
Okay, so, this is an idiomatic phrase.
Uhu.
So, before we explain it, let’s listen to somebody beating around the bush. Example: Okay, the one thing that I wanna tell you, um… it’s so important…does that… I don’t like... they… I always… sometimes when… alright, 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 be 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 is beating around the bush, so you can just say “hey, come out with it”.
Tell me.
Tell me just…
Yeah.
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 gonna have to let you go” or, uh…
Or “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.
So, Erica, have you ever fired anyone?
I have fired a lot of people.
Hehe. Wow! You’re a mean person.
Oh, yeah, well, you know… there’re some people who really do silly things like come to work drunk, um, and if you do that…
You’re obviously gonna get fired.
Yeah.
But in the United States, actually, there’s 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.
I mean, if you come to work, uh, drunk, you get fired immediately, right?
Yes.
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 sent out… Yep, so, when you hear somebody talk about pink slips like…
Uhu.
We sent… like our company sent out five hundred pink slips, you know that means, that five hundred people got laid off.
Or I got a pink slip today.
That means you got laid off.
Right.
Yeah.
That’s actually interesting, because I don’t know any other country that actually has this…
Of special color. Hehe.
Special color for firing people.
Yeah. How about in your country? Is there a special color for pink slips?
Hehe. If you guys have any stories as well maybe about being fired or maybe you’ve had to fire somebody.
Uhu. 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. They will also help you.
Okay, guys, well, we’re out of time for today, but until next time…
Bye!
Good bye!
复习 Review
The EnglishPod 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.
Use 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.
Find saying something by talking about other things.
Beat around the bush.
Use to 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.
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 news 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.
Stop beating around the bush and tell me
what you have to say.
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 their 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.
I can't believe it.
After 12 years of working here,
they let me go.
Let someone go.
If you continue to make this mistake,
we're going to have to let you go.