Business Communication in Action 実践ビジネス英語
Hello everybody. こんにちは。みなさん。
Hello and welcome to the show.
This is Heather Howard.
Let's take a look at conversation at work.
Be Prepared (5)
Alvarez talks about the skills that preppers learn including fishing
and recognizing edible plants.
She says some of them make it a fun weekend activity
for the whole family.
Salmans recalls a crucial tool he was told to have as a Boy Scout.
And Alvarez says that a fire can be used in many ways in an emergency.
Orienteering: Alvarez is talking, ah, about a competitive activity,
ah, done in the woods and elsewhere.
You use a map, apparently and a compass to navigate
between the checkpoints along an unfamiliar root.
Obviously, this is using the term ah, "orient."
On the other side, we have "disoriented."
And a disoriented person is confused about where they are,
ah, where they're going, ah, what they're doing.
Ah, for example, if I was hit on the head,
I would probably become disoriented.
I also got very, ah, disoriented on my first day of college.
Ah, all the buildings looked the same at night and I couldn't figure
where I was or how to get to my dorm.
disorientated
Edible: The opposite expression would be "inedible."
Like…"Oh oh, good heavens. I left that in the refrigerator, ah, too long.
And now it is absolutely inedible."
The list is endless.
Obviously, this expression involves some ah, hyperbole.
But it's a very common way to say there's an enormous number of
something.
If we made a list, it would go on and on and on and on.
You could tell a visitor to Japan,
"Ah, There are so many things to do here.
There are sports and cultural activities, fine food and shopping.
Ah, the list is endless."
The list goes on and on.
Weekend hobby activity: Alvarez says,
"Some of the preppers get the whole family involved
and make it a kind of weekend hobby activity."
We also have the term "hobbyist."
Ah, this is a person who pursues some particular hobby.
Lately there are drone hobbyists.
Model plane hobbyists have been around for a very long time.
Weekend athlete 週末しか運動しない人
Weekend artist 日曜画家
Designated:
Disaster-evacuation area:
Firestarter kid: Salmans says, "when I was a Boy Scout,
I was taught that afire starter kit tops the list of items in a survival kit."
A kit, ah, containing materials to easily start a fire, like a flint and such.
We use"starter" in a lot of situations
to mean "beginning, ah, initial basic."
A starter in baseball, of course, is a pitcher who starts games,
pitches from the first inning.
There are starter classes in various subjects, ah, cooking, ah, whatever.
And we also say "a starter."
A starter to mean an appetizer.
This meal includes a starter and dessert.
Appetizer
Conversation starter 会話のきっかけとなるのようなテーマ 会話の糸口
Top the list: Ah, this is the number one ranking thing.
For example, my personal opinion and no offense to any other places,
anywhere inJapan.
But for me, Kyoto tops the list of places to see in Japan.
You've gotta see that town.
Rub two sticks together: Obviously, this is ah, rubbing literally
two sticks together, ah, to spark a flame.
Personally never done this in my entire life.
I have to give it a try sometime.
We also have the expression, not have two nickels to rub together.
Meaning a person has almost no money at all.
A nickel is a 5 cent coin.
You might say, when he first came to this country,
his great grandfather didn't have two nickels to rub together.
Be stranded in the wilderness:
Salmans is talking literally about an undeveloped area.
You know not significantly affected by human activity.
It can also refer to a very crowded or dangerous place that we sort of
metaphorically feel lost in, we feel adrift.
At first, my university to me was a wilderness of unfamiliar buildings.
It took a while to find my way around.
Stranded in the middle of nowhere どこだかわからないような所で立ち往生する
Work in a pinch: If you don't other options, if this is all you have
or all you can do at the time, well, this will be all right.
You can manage.
I might say, "If you don't have a formal party outfit, well,
an all-black ensemble with some jewelry will do in a pinch.
On foot: Ueda recommends traveling each evacuation route on foot
at least once a week.
By walking as opposed to some form of transportation.
The apartment is 10 minutes from the station on foot, for example.
Get the job done: McMillan says down at the bottom,
"afire starter kit gest the job done faster and more easily."
It achieves the desired result. Performs the required task.
You could say,
"Paul always gets the job done. He's a very skilled translator."
Or, this vacuum cleaner will get the job done
and it doesn't cost a fortune.
That's all for today.
See you next time. Bye, bye.