Learn 12 English Phrases to Use at Work

Hi, Bob, the Canadian here.

Welcome to this little English lesson

where I'm going to teach you some phrases

that you can use to talk about work.

In fact, I am back at work.

The school day just ended.

So I'm happy about that because I can take my mask off.

It's been a long day actually.

But I'm definitely back at it.

And that's the first phrase that I wanted to teach you.

Sometimes when you take a break from work,

like as a teacher, I had the summer off.

When you start working again,

you say that you are back at it.

So back at it is a simple phrase

that just means you're working again.

The other phrase I wanted to teach you is the phrase

to be back in the swing of things.

The first week of school, things were a little rough.

It's hard to remember how to do everything,

but eventually you get used to the job again.

And then we use the English phrase

to be back in the swing of things

or to be back into the swing of things.

And basically all that means is that work seems pretty

normal to me now.

I've remembered how to do this job

and I think I do it pretty well.

So I'm definitely back in the swing of things.

Like I said, the first week was a little rough

while I was trying to remember how to do this job well.

I certainly needed to work out some kinks.

That's the third phrase I wanted to teach you.

When you need to work out some kinks,

it means you need to kind of relearn how to do the job well.

Sometimes you know exactly how to do it,

but you haven't done it for a long time.

So when you start doing the job again,

you need to work out the kinks.

And certainly after I worked out the kinks,

I needed to roll up my sleeves.

Now I know I wear short sleeved shirts,

but the English phrase to roll up your sleeves means to get

to work and to work hard.

So after I worked out all the kinks,

I certainly rolled up my sleeves

and started doing the job well.

This is actually my third week back at work

and it's time to get down to business.

In English, when we talk about work

and we use the phrase to get down to business,

it means that you want to start getting work done.

Sometimes when you start a job or restart a job,

like I just did, there are many things you need to do

that aren't the actual work.

You have a lot of training and a lot

of new things you have to learn.

But now, because it's the third week back at the job,

it's time to get down to business.

It's time to get the actual work done that needs to be done

because I want to make headway.

When you use the English phrase to make headway,

it means that you want to have progress at your job.

When you start a project or you start a task,

you always want to make progress or make headway.

When you say you want to make headway,

it means that each day you want to get

a certain amount of work done so that eventually

you are done the project.

It is always nice to get down to business

and then to make headway.

So so far, the job is really exciting.

It's fun to be back at work,

but eventually it will be the same old, same old.

In English, when we use the phrase the same old, same old,

it just simply means that something has become routine

and maybe even a little bit boring.

Usually my job doesn't become too boring,

but eventually it'll just be the same old, same old.

I'll do the same things every day.

As I continue to do the job.

Every once in a while at work, I need to go the extra mile.

The English phrase to go the extra mile

means that you do more than you are expected to do.

So I'm expected to teach my classes,

but sometimes I go the extra mile

by helping out a colleague on a project they're working on.

So at work, when you say

that you are going to go the extra mile,

it means you're going to do more work

than they would expect you to do on a project or a task.

It's really nice to have colleagues

that are willing to go the extra mile.

Speaking of colleagues, I'm sure everyone has a coworker

who needs to pull up their socks.

In English, when we say that someone needs

to pull up their socks, it means they need to work harder.

I'm sure at your place of work, everyone works really hard,

but there might be that one person

who just doesn't work as hard as everyone else.

And we would say that that person needs

to pull up their socks because when everyone

is working on the same task or job, it's nice

if everyone pulls their weight.

In English, when we say

that everyone needs to pull their weight,

it means that they all need to work

as hard as everyone else when you have a job to do,

or when you're working on a project.

And if three people are pulling their weight,

but one person is not working very hard,

that person definitely needs to pull up their socks.

I really do enjoy being back at work,

but I do need to keep my nose to the grindstone.

In English, when you're talking about a job

and you say that you need to keep

your nose to the grindstone, it means

that you need to keep working hard

and not take too many breaks.

It's important when you're a teacher like me,

when you're doing this job,

that you keep your nose to the grindstone,

because if you get behind

the job becomes very, very difficult.

I also wanna keep my nose to the grindstone

because I wanna stay ahead of the game.

In English, when you use the phrase

to stay ahead of the game,

it means that you plan well and that you work ahead

and that you do things before

they need to be done so that your job

is a little bit more relaxing.

I often find that if I get behind,

my job becomes a little bit irritating

and I get annoyed, but if I stay ahead of the game,

I can stay happy at work and I can do really well

as an employee.

Well hey, thanks for watching this little lesson

on a few work phrases that you can use

when talking about your job or about work.

I hope you were able to learn just a little bit more English

in this video lesson.

And I hope that wherever you work,

whether it's a part time, job, or full time job,

that it's going well, and that you are enjoying yourself.

I'm Bob, the Canadian, and you're learning English

with me here on YouTube.

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if this video helped you learn just a little bit of English,

and if you have some time, why don't you stick around

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