The Vocabulary Show: In the office. 🏪🖊️🧑‍💼👩💻 Learn 26 English words and phrases in 10 minutes!

Hello and welcome to our guide to office vocabulary, phrases and idioms

that you can use around the water cooler.

Whether you're a fresh intern or a seasoned executive,

climb the corporate ladder with these useful English terms.

On the agenda today, we have a guided tour of the important spaces in an office,

followed by a walk-through of the essential people and items

you are likely to encounter,

before finishing with a look at the language of hierarchy and power

within companies and corporations.

If you work in an office and you find this video useful, be sure to like, subscribe

and, of course, practise these new English words and phrases

in the comments section below.

So, with that being said, let's get down to business.

Now, when talking about the office,

where better to start than the common and often disliked cubicle?

A 'cubicle' is a small, partly enclosed workspace within an office

that's separated from similar spaces by walls or partitions.

They offer a private working space for employees

and they can give you a little bit of privacy.

We can use 'in' or 'at' as a preposition with 'cubicle',

depending on the context.

We use 'in' when we are emphasising that we are inside

the physical space of a cubicle.

For example...

However, if we are referring to the cubicle as a place where somebody works,

or they are currently working, we use 'at'.

Now that we've taken a quick peek at the cubicle,

let's look at some of the items that make it a functional workspace.

We'll start with an item that is found in offices worldwide.

Of course, we're talking about a file.

A 'file' is a collection of documents or papers

that are on a particular topic.

We put physical files into a filing cabinet.

This is a physical storage space where we can keep files.

A cubicle will hold lots of vocabulary items

that I'm sure you're already aware of, like...

But here are some other common items we might find in a cubicle

that you might not know.

First of all, we have a 'stapler',

which we use to clip two or more pieces of paper together.

Maybe you have a 'calendar' on your desk

where you can keep track of dates, events and important tasks that you need to do.

If a calendar doesn't work for you, you might want to try using 'sticky notes'.

These small, sticky pieces of paper

can be used for reminders, messaging or labelling.

'Paper clips' hold pieces of paper together.

A 'swivel chair' is a chair that can turn around on its base.

Or maybe you use a 'rubber stamp'?

This is a handheld tool that we can use to imprint the same message

again and again and again.

But I'm interested — what do you keep in your cubicle?

Let us know in the comments.

Wow, learning all this new vocabulary is tough, isn't it?

Why don't we take a break,

leave the cubicle and go on a quick tour of the office space?

And what better place to start than at the water cooler?

The 'water cooler', of course,

is the machine that dispenses water for you to drink.

In American culture and movies and TV shows,

this is the place where colleagues famously take a break

and have a quick chat about work or life.

Just to let you know, although British people would recognise this phrase,

it is not something we would typically use ourselves.

This is a North American phrase.

In the UK, we'd be more likely to take a tea break.

A 'tea break' is a short period of time

where we go to the break room or kitchen area

and we relax, have a cup of tea and chat.

We can say we are going to 'take a tea break'

or we are going to 'have a tea break'.

When you hear either of these phrases, you know it is time to put on the kettle,

relax and take a well-deserved break of ten to fifteen minutes or more.

Let's continue our tour and move from the relaxed space of the break room

to the heart of corporate power, the boardroom.

The 'boardroom' is a formal room where the board of directors meet

to discuss and make important decisions.

This is the heart of strategic decision-making

and the place where the real power lies.

So now we've got a good idea of some of the spaces within an office.

Let's take a look at the people who work there.

Now, the most basic term for somebody who works in an office

is, unsurprisingly, 'office worker'.

They typically work with computers, possibly in a cubicle,

they often wear smart, formal clothes and they do some sort of administrative work.

Most offices also have a 'secretary'.

This is an office worker who helps with daily tasks, such as answering phones,

responding to emails, typing up documents and arranging meetings.

For example,

There are two common ways of pronouncing 'secretary'.

You can say the four-syllable version — sec-ruh-ta-ree —

or you can use the three-syllable version — sec-ruh-tree.

Use whichever one is most comfortable for you.

Moving up the corporate ladder, we might encounter a manager.

Managers are responsible for overseeing the work of office workers

and often have their own offices or workspaces.

An informal term for manager is 'boss'.

Boss can refer to anyone in a position of authority.

A boss can be the direct supervisor of just one person

or the CEO of a multinational corporation.

So, speaking of bosses, let's go to the top floor

and meet the bigwigs.

The 'bigwigs' are the people with the fanciest chairs

the nicest offices and the shiniest nameplates.

They are often found on the top floor

and these are the people with the most money, power and influence.

Now, 'bigwig' is an informal, idiomatic term

and it is not necessarily too positive.

It's a little bit mocking and making a little bit of fun of the bosses,

so maybe keep it amongst your colleagues

and don't use it directly to your boss's face.

Workers have a number of similarly, slightly humorous phrases

for the people at the top.

This includes:

big cheese,

head honcho,

top dog.

All three of these can be used with the definite article 'the'

or with the indefinite article 'a',

so we can say...

Or we can say...

Sometimes, when we don't know exactly who the people at the top are,

we can refer to them as 'the powers that be'.

These are all idiomatic, informal terms for the people near the top,

but a more formal term might be an 'executive'.

This is someone at senior level of management that usually has a lot of power,

but might not necessarily be a boss or manager.

The shortened form of this is an 'exec'.

This is an informal term, often used in business circles

and can be used singularly — 'exec' — or collectively — 'execs'.

Moving up the hierarchy of a company, from the bottom to the top,

is called 'climbing the corporate ladder'.

The 'corporate ladder' is the path of moving up within a company

to better and better positions.

It is a metaphor, and you can think of each promotion

as climbing another rung of the corporate ladder.

With each step, you are moving one step further from the bottom

and one step closer to the top.

For example,

In most offices I've worked in, I've found that there will always be someone

who tries to more up the corporate ladder by sucking up.

To 'suck up' means to flatter somebody, or to say something nice

in order to get some personal gain.

So this is 'suck up' as a phrasal verb,

but we can also use it as a noun.

So this is someone who is always saying, "Good idea, boss!"

And who is particularly nice to people above them in the power structure.

This is a negative term

to show that someone is not being nice because they are nice,

but they are being falsely nice in order to get some gain themselves.

OK, we are coming to the end of the video,

so hopefully you have all the tools you need to talk shop like a pro.

To 'talk shop' is to discuss work-related issues,

typically outside of work.

Here's an example sentence for you.

And there you have it, a comprehensive guide to the office landscape,

from the humble cubicle to the dizzying heights of the boardroom,

we've covered all the office basics that you need to climb the corporate ladder.

You can find all of today's vocabulary scrolling down the side here,

so be sure to study, practise and learn these new words.

And, of course, the best place to practise these new words

is in the comments section below.

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See you next time - bye!