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Speaker 1: Let's table this. That's what the boss said, and then

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someone else said we need to pivot, so that I

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suggested we take it offline. But then the boss said, hey,

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let's not reinvent the wheel the language of business.

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Speaker 2: Welcome to another Happy English podcast, coming to you from

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New York City. And here's your English teacher, Michael.

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Speaker 1: All right, thank you John, and thanks everyone. It's Michael

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here from Happy English and I help people speak English better.

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And this is Happy English Podcast, Episode nine twenty two.

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Office Speak. What do these phrases really mean? Hey, thanks

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for tuning in. Now, let me ask you something. Have

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you ever been in a meeting or on a zoom

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call and someone's says something like, oh, let's circle back

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on that, or hey, we need to pivot and you're

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just sitting there thinking, wait, what did that mean? Yeah,

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office lingo can sound super vague, even to native speakers sometimes,

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but the good news is I'm here today to help

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you decode those mysterious phrases. Let's take a closer look

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at what these buzzwords really mean in plain English and

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how native speakers use them in everyday business conversations. The

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first two phrases are let's table this for now, and

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let's circle back. We use both of these to delay

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talking about something. Let's table this for now, and you

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heard that right. We use table as a verb in

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this phrase. Let's table this for now sounds like it

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means like let's start talking about it, but actually it

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means the opposite. In American English, when someone says let's

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table this, they mean let's stop talking about this for now,

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as in put it back down on the table, sometimes permanently.

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Like last week, Jack was in a brainstorming meeting at

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his office. He had a cool idea for changing the

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company logo, but his boss didn't want to get into

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that topic, so she said, oh, yeah, nice idea. Well,

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let's table this for now. Huh yeah. That was her

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polite way of saying, let's not talk about this probably

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never again. Next up is circle back. Let's circle back

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sounds kind of friendly, right, like we're just going in circles.

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But when someone says let's circle back on this, they

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usually mean let's talk about this later. If we remember,

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Jack emailed his manager asking for feedback on his latest

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client proposal. The response let's circle back next week, which

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in office speak probably means it's not my priority right now.

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The next two phrases are all about changing the topic

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or changing the direction of the conversation. First up is

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we need to pivot now. This one's super popular in

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the startup world. Pivot means to change direction, especially when

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the original idea or plan isn't working. Like Jack's team

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launched an app targeting gen Z users, but no one

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was downloaded. So in the Monday meeting, his boss said,

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we need to pivot and focus on small business owners instead.

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In plain English, what we're doing isn't working, so let's

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try something new. And then we have let's take this offline.

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When someone says let's take this offline, it doesn't mean

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you're going to unplug your WiFi. It just means let's

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stop talking about this in the meeting and discuss it

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privately later. Like the other day, Jack had a lot

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of detailed questions during a group meeting and the team

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leader says, all right, look, let's take this offline. Basically,

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let's save time now and talk one on one later on. Now,

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the next set of phrases is all about team harmony,

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in other words, working well together. And first up in

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this category is where aligned align means to put things

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in the correct position. So when you say that you

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and your coworkers are aligned, it just means you all

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agree or you're all on the same page. Like last week,

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Jack and his coworker Sarah were reviewing a proposal for

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a new client. When they both agreed on the changes,

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Jack said, cool looks good where aligned. It sounds kind

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of professional and polished. And you'll hear this all the

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time in the business scene, and in order to get

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everyone aligned, you'll probably hear someone say, let's sync up.

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Sync is short for synchronized, which means to make sure

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everything is lined up at the same time. So when

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the boss or your coworker says let's sync up, they

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mean let's talk, let's meet to make sure we're working

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together smoothly. This is how you can bring people together

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in a modern way. Like one day in the office,

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Jack and his designer were working on different versions of

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the same presentation and their manager messaged them saying, hey,

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let's sync up this afternoon. It's a fancy way to

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say let's check in and make sure we're on the

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same page. The last set of phrases are what I

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like to call sneaky rejections soft or polite ways to

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say not now or maybe never. The first one is

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let's revisit this later. I'm sure you know the word visit,

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and I'm guessing you may not know the term revisit. Now.

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You can revisit a place you've traveled to before. But

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in the workplace, when someone says let's revisit this later,

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it's like putting something away in a drawer and actually

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hoping nobody remembers it. Like one day, Jack suggested moving

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the weekly meeting to Fridays instead of Mondays. His boss

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smiled and said, let's revisit this later, and well that

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was the end of that. The other sneaky or soft

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rejection is let's not reinvent the wheel. The wheel an

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amazing invention that's worked well for centuries, and if something

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already exists and works fine, there's no need to start over.

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Let's not reinvent the wheel. This one means let's not

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make more or work for ourselves. Like last month, Jack

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wanted to create a whole new format for the monthly

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sales report, but his team leader said, let's not reinvent

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the wheel, just update last month's version. In other words,

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work smarter, not harder. So what do all of these

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phrases have in common. They sound professional, sometimes even a

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little confusing, but once you break them down, they're just

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everyday English used in a business setting. Here's a recap.

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Let's table this means let's stop talking about it now.

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Let's circle back means maybe we'll talk about this later,

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but probably not. We need to pivot is the same

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as let's move the conversation in another direction. Take it

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offline means let's talk privately. When someone says we're aligned,

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it means we agree. And let's sync up means let's

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meet and talk more. And if someone says let's revisit

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this later, well that's probably a soft no. And finally,

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don't reinvent the wheel. It's like saying, hey, nice idea,

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but let's use what we already have now. You don't

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necessarily need to use these phrases yourself, but it's good

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to understand them that way. When someone drops one of

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these expressions in a meeting or email, you'll know exactly

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what they mean. And hey, if you do want to

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sound a little more professional in English, sprinkle one or

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two of these into your next business conversation. Just don't

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go overboard and say them all in one meeting. Okay,

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and hey, if you want to practice this kind of

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English with me and a group of other awesome learners,

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come check out my podcast Learner's Study Group. We meet

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once a week and practice the language from these podcasts

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lessons together. It's a great way to build confidence and

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improve your speaking. Just check the link where you're listening

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to this podcast right now, or visit Myhappy English dot

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com and choose podcast episode nine twenty two for more info.

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Thanks for listening, and remember, learning another language is not easy,

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but it's not impossible, and I'm here to help you

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on your journey.

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Speaker 2: This podcast is brought to you by Happy English. Please

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visit Myhappy English dot com show your support for Happy

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English by leading us a review. Get English, Get Happy,

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Happy English.