In the Middle | Learn Business English Expressions

5,845 views ・ 2023-10-19

Shaw English Online


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

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Hi, this is Bill.
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And in this video, I'm going to show you a term that is perfect for a business situation.
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OK, now, maybe you already know the word compromise.
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Well, there is a phrase you can use that means the same thing is compromise.
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It's just easy to say kind of casual and it's great for sentences.
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OK, now that phrase is meat in the middle.
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All right.
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Now, it's kind of exactly what you think.
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All right.
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So now you can think about it like this.
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There's two men having a business negotiation.
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OK.
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And now maybe the first man wants the price to be $20.
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OK.
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And the second man, he wants the price to be $10.
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OK.
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Well, the first man doesn't want $10, and the second man doesn't want $20.
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So they negotiate, and then they decide to meet in the middle.
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That means the man who wants $20 comes down,
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and the man who wants $10 comes up and they choose $15.
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See that?
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They both give up a little.
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They meet in the middle.
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It's a fair way to finish a negotiation,
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because if you look at the sentence I've written up here,
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it says, "Let's meet in the middle so we can both be happy."
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It's kind of like everybody wins if you meet in the middle.
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This is good for business when you're talking about contract or prices of things.
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You can actually also use this if you're shopping at a market
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and maybe you think the person selling something is asking for a price too high.
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Maybe you offer a lower price.
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And after some talking, maybe you meet in the middle or compromise.
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Same meaning.
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OK, if you meet in the middle, Both sides win.
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All right.
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Let's look at some written examples of this being used.
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Here are some sentences of how you can use.
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Meet in the middle.
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We are both far from what we want, but if we meet in the middle we can both be happy.
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I want 20 items.
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And you think I should get ten?
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So let's meet in the middle and make it 15 items.
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Why don't we meet in the middle so we can finish this negotiation?
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So there you see some easy and practical examples of using the phrase meet in the middle.
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Now, it's a good phrase to know for business because it's common.
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Everybody uses it at some time when they're negotiating It's a good term to use.
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So if you practice it and you use it, I promise you that English speakers know the meaning
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and will think it fits perfectly into your conversation.
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OK.
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So get out there and start talking to people about meeting in the middle
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when you're trying to negotiate or decide on something.
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OK.
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I hope you use it and I'll see you next video.
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