Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 200, Meeting a Deadline.
You're listening to English as a Second Language podcast episode number 200.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
As always, we remind you to visit our website at www.eslpod.com.
There you can find the complete transcript for this podcast in our learning guide.
It also contains the definitions, the words, additional cultural notes and other information about this episode of ESL Podcast.
Today's podcast is called Meeting a Deadline.
Let's go.
You wanted to see me?
Yes, I did.
Have a seat.
I want to talk to you about the Pulsin Project.
I know I'm a little late in getting that report to you, but I've been pulling out the stops to get it done.
But it's still not done, is it?
You know that the deadline for the next milestone of the project was this past Monday.
Yes, I know, but the scope of the project turned out to be a lot bigger than I had anticipated.
And they just didn't allocate enough resources for something this size.
Is there any way we can push back the deadline by a week?
The time to ask that was last week, not after you've missed the deadline.
I have the management breathing down my neck about this report.
I've tried to stall them for the past two days, and they're not happy.
I promise to have it on your desk by tomorrow morning.
You have my word.
All right.
I'll give you until 9am tomorrow.
I'm tired of taking the heat, though, and I don't plan to do it any longer.
You can count on me.
Don't let me down.
I won't.
The title of this podcast is Meeting a Deadline.
To meet a deadline means that you do what you are supposed to do before the time that it is due.
A deadline, D-E-A-D, L-I-N-E, all one word, is the day or date that you have to get something done.
It's the time that you must complete whatever you are told to complete.
Our dialogue begins with Pam saying to her boss, Ed, you wanted to see me?
This is the same as saying, did you want to see me?
But we use this expression you wanted to see me as a question when we are pretty sure that the person wants to see us or that we know that they wanted to see us and we're just confirming, we're just checking that that is true.
You could also say, did you want to see me, if you weren't perhaps as certain, though these two expressions can also mean the same thing and be used in the same way.
Ed says, yes, I did.
I did want to see you.
He tells Pam to have a seat or to take a seat, meaning to sit down.
He wants to talk to Pam about the Polson Project.
And Pam says, I know I'm a little late in getting that report to you.
What she means here is that she is late in delivering the report or handing the report, the information, to her boss.
She's running late, we might say.
To run late is the same as to be late in this case.
It means that you are not getting things done when you should get them done.
Pam says that she's been pulling out the stops to get it done.
The expression to pull out the stops S-T-O-P-S or to pull out all the stops means that you are doing everything possible that you can to get something done.
This expression comes from The organ, as in a church, an organ is a musical instrument that has long pipes that play different notes.
To pull out the stops means to use all of the pipes of the organ.
And it's an expression here which generally means to do everything possible.
Ed says but it's still not done is it?
He's telling Pam that she still has not finished the report, even though she has done everything possible.
She says
Ed says you know that the deadline for the next milestone of the project was this past Monday.
Well, deadline we already know is when something has to be finished.
A milestone M-I-L-E-S-T-O-N-E all one word is when you have a large project and there are several different parts to the project.
Each part of the project has its own timeline.
When you are supposed to get something done for this part, for Part B, for Part C and so forth, each of these parts would have its own milestone.
A milestone is when you have completed an important or significant part of the project.
So a big project that takes three months may have a milestone for Part A and then another milestone for Part B and a third for Part C.
Ed says that the milestone deadline for this part of the project was this past Monday, meaning it was the Monday that we just passed the previous Monday.
Pam says Yes, I know, but the scope of the project turned out to be a lot bigger than I had anticipated.
The scope, S-C-O-P-E, means the range or the amount or the size of the project.
Turned out to be a lot bigger.
When we say something turned out to be, we mean that the result was something that was different than what you may have expected.
Well, the scope of this project turned out to be a lot bigger.
The size of it was bigger than I expected.
The word that Pam uses in the dialogue is anticipated.
A-N-T-I-C-I-P-A-T-E-D.
To anticipate as a verb means to expect, to think about something and how it will happen.
What will happen in the future?
This is to anticipate.
And she said that what she expected was a smaller project.
She also complains because Pam is really complaining to the boss, giving him excuses, reasons why she didn't finish the project.
She says that they didn't allocate enough resources for something this size.
To allocate A-L-L-O-C-A-T-E is a verb that you will often hear in a business setting, and it means to give.
We often use this verb to allocate with the term resources.
A resource, R-E-S-O-U-R-C-E, is anything that you can use to get something done.
And in a business project, resources would include people who could help with the project.
It might also include information you need to do a project.
It might include the amount of time that you have to finish the project.
It could be money that you need to complete the project.
All of these things are resources.
In general, a resource is something that you use to complete another task, to finish something else, and the term here that you will hear often is allocate resources, meaning that you need to give people what they need to finish the project.
Pam asks Ed if there is any way, that is, if it is possible to push back the deadline by a week.
To push, P-U-S-H, back a deadline means to move the deadline another week in the future.
Ed says the time to ask that was last week, meaning you should have asked that last week, not now, not after you've missed the deadline.
To miss M-I-S-S.
A deadline is the opposite of to meet or to make a deadline when you don't finish what you are supposed to do by the day you are supposed to do it.
Ed says, I have the management breathing down my neck.
When we say someone is breathing down your neck, we mean that they are bothering you.
They are waiting for something to get done and they are asking you about it all the time.
Is it finished yet?
Are you done yet?
Why haven't you completed it?
So Ed is saying that his boss and remember, Ed is Pam's boss his boss has been talking to him and asking him about the project, putting pressure on him to complete it, trying to hurry it up.
Ed says that he's tried to stall them, but they're not happy.
To stall S-T-A-L-L someone means to delay them, to make them wait longer, because usually you aren't finished doing what you're supposed to do.
So if you take your car into the mechanic to get it fixed and the mechanic says it will be done by 5 o'clock this afternoon, You go at 5 o'clock and the car isn't done.
And the mechanic may say, oh, well, I need to get some more things.
Why don't you come back tomorrow?
He's trying to stall you to prevent you or to delay you from getting your car back.
Pam says that she promises to have the report on Ed's desk by tomorrow morning.
When we say you're going to have something on someone's desk, we mean you're going to give it to them.
You're going to deliver it to them.
Pam says you have my word.
The expression to have someone's word means that the person is promising to do something.
They are committing to do something.
You have my word.
I am promising to do it.
Ed says, OK, I'll give you until nine o'clock tomorrow.
I'm tired of taking the heat, though, and I don't plan to do it any longer.
To take the heat.
H-E-A-T means to be the person who is being criticized or the person who is being blamed for something that is going wrong.
Ed is saying that the management, his bosses, have been bothering him.
And he's the one who has to take the heat, who has to accept the responsibility.
Pam says, you can count on me.
To count, C-O-U-N-T, on someone means to depend on them.
And Ed says, don't let me down.
To let someone down means to disappoint them.
So to count on someone means to depend or rely or trust someone to do something.
And to let someone down means not to do that thing, not to do what you promised to do.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a native rate of speech.
You wanted to see me?
Yes, I did.
Have a seat.
I want to talk to you about the Polson project.
I know I'm a little late in getting that report to you, but I've been pulling out the stops to get it done.
But it's still not done, is it?
You know that the deadline for the next milestone of the project was this past Monday.
Yes, I know.
But the scope of the project turned out to be a lot bigger than I anticipated.
And they just didn't allocate enough resources for something this size.
Is there any way we can push back the deadline by a week?
The time to ask that was last week, not after you've missed the deadline.
I have the management breathing down my neck about this report.
I've tried to stall them for the past two days, and they're not happy.
I promise to have it on your desk by tomorrow morning.
You have my word.
All right.
I'll give you until 9 a.m. tomorrow.
I'm tired of taking the heat, though, and I don't plan to do it any longer.
You can count on me.
Don't let me down.
I won't.
The script for today's podcast was written by the very reliable Dr. Lucy Sae.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thank you for listening, as always.
We'll see you next time on ESL Podcast.
English as a Second Language Podcast is written and produced by Dr Lucy Say, hosted by Dr Jeff McQuillan.
This podcast is copyright 2006.
