This is the Business English Podcast Episode 390 – Get a feel for these English expressions.
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Hey, Lindsay, how are you?
Great, Michelle. How are you?
How's it going? Good.
Good. Thanks, Lindsay.
When's the last time you learned something new for work?
Ooh. Learn something new.
Oh my gosh, I'm always learning new things, but I can't think of anything specific.
Good question. Sometimes it's hard on the spot, right?
I know. I just put you on the spot.
That's okay. I'm always learning new marketing things, so yesterday was the last time, Michelle.
Okay. Yeah. I mean, do you tend to do you remember if you did anything to get a feel for how it worked?
Maybe there's something you were specifically learning maybe on the computer?
Yeah. So learning how to mobile optimize different pages, different web pages, is something.
So even just today, I was learning how to work with the mobile optimization to get a feel for how the display would look on mobile versus desktop.
So, yeah. Yeah, you just got to try things out Michelle.
Try things out. Yeah, definitely and one thing you guys should try out right now is if you haven't already you should hit the follow button wherever you're listening to the Business England podcast so you never miss an episode.
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Do you use this expression Michelle, get a feel for something?
This one is really common, I think.
But what does it mean?
Oh my gosh, it basically means to begin to understand something like to get familiar with it.
Right. So it doesn't mean you have to know everything but you're starting to get a sense.
Yes. Yeah. Exactly.
All right so here let's do some examples.
Here's the first one.
We just switched our company over to digital records but I'm still getting a feel for the system.
Mm hmm. Yes. Or I think my new job.
Sorry, I think. I think I like my new job, but I'm still just getting a feel for everything.
OK. Or I'm trying to get a feel for how Hadley works.
Do you have any insight?
Nice. Yeah, I think you're right.
I think it is super common. It's another way of saying trying to understand something, right?
To me, this is really useful because you're in this in between space.
You're working on something.
The wheels are in motion.
You're in the process.
So this can really express that type of a feeling feeling Yeah, really use it to show that you're working towards something now It can be working towards something very specific learning a system or learning a person We're learning how you feel about something that's interesting, too, right?
We're gonna talk about that a little bit a little bit more later in the episode.
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Alright, so let's see things that we're trying to get a feel for right now.
I'm trying to think well, when I visited New York this past weekend, I mean, I know New York.
So this might not be the best example, but I was trying to get a feel for how things have changed since the pandemic.
I guess that works.
Yeah, trying to get a feel and what was I doing to get a feel for it?
I was walking the streets as you do in New York to learn anything, right?
Walking the streets of Chelsea and trying to get a feel for what was different and what was still the same.
Right, right, right.
And for me, you know, I had a big move this year and I am more in a suburban situation now.
So I'm trying to get a feel for life in the suburbs.
And there are things that I really, there are things that I like and there are things that I miss from city life.
You know, I would say the number one thing is the grocery situation.
I'm always thinking when can I get to the grocery store when I used to just hop out my door and I lived right next to someone.
So I'm trying to get a feel for how my grocery shopping works, how I want to plan for things.
Yeah, interesting. Love that.
And again, it shows that you're in a process of learning something, learning about something.
It's not the final piece of information, you're on the road to learning more.
Right. Right. So, it's almost like there's an expression, the verdict's still out.
I like that one. We could do a whole episode about that.
but it's saying, we don't know yet, we don't know yet what will be the final opinion, right?
From the suburb life or this kind of a system or whatever.
Right. The verdicts still out.
I also say more often, I say the jury still out, but I guess people do also say that the verdict is still out.
Essentially it means the same thing.
The jury is deliberating.
Right. Right. That's true.
Interesting. Oh, we should do an episode on courtroom expression.
That would be fun because we did one on accounting expression.
So there's definitely a lot to be done there for our listeners.
Love that. Guys, hit follow to catch that episode.
So there are other ways to say this though, Michelle, you don't always have to say, you know, get a feel for something.
You could say related things.
So yeah, one thing you could say is to feel something out.
Right. So instead of get a feel for something, you could say, feel something out.
So I want to feel out how much Sheila is open to learning for the new project.
Yeah. And what would you do to figure that out?
Like what would that mean exactly?
In terms that maybe you would drop some questions.
Yeah, right, right.
Yeah, exactly. Maybe I'm going to ask some questions.
Maybe I'll take her to lunch, and I'll talk about the new project and see if she sounds interested.
Right. It's kind of what we do when we interview people.
Fill someone out. We get a sense of you ask open -ended questions.
It's like we're working on our business course, our new professional English level one that's coming out in the spring.
And we're talking about why do interviewers ask the question tell me about yourself It feels like such a vague broad lazy question But it's actually pretty strategic for them for the interviewer because they want to know how you describe yourself It says a lot about you how you answer that question, doesn't it?
Right? Yeah Well, they're trying to feel you out.
They're trying to Understand you also another time when you feel someone out is when you're dating, right?
you're trying to get a feel for the person, what are they like?
Do you like them? Are they nice to waiters and waitresses?
Right? You kind of need the time in the same space, physical space, just to see how they interact with the world.
Another way to do that is to go traveling together.
We talked about this on the show, take that before you marry someone travel internationally with them, right and see what happens.
And then there's also get a sense of now Lindsay, I think you mentioned this one already.
So I want to get a sense of how our clients feel about the changes we have been making.
Yes, I love that one get a sense of again.
It's not getting the exact answer.
It's getting around the answer getting in the ballpark of the answer.
Okay, or get the hang of something.
This is more learning something how to do something a little bit different little different.
Let's get the hang of this new software before we move on.
Okay? So just to make sure that's clear, that's learning how to do something, and these other ones are learning about someone or something.
Right, right, right.
Lindsey, do any of these feel the most natural or common to you?
Yeah, I think feel something out is good, because this is actually how we gather information.
Most of the time we're not asking direct questions and getting direct answers.
We're asking indirect questions or listening more to gather info and then come to a conclusion later on.
Yeah. Definitely. So any other thoughts on why this is useful for business?
I mean, it's not only getting a feel for something you're learning, like we were talking about.
Learning about a person, learning if something will be okay with a person, learning how your coworkers think and work.
I think it's very important to get a feel for the people you work with.
Yeah. I think the importance of when you're new at a job, feeling out the workplace, listening more than you speak, we've talked about that on this show before.
Is this the right place for me, right?
Getting a sense, is this the right corporate environment?
Is this what I want?
You have to listen for the cues that are gonna be maybe under the surface, not in the direct words people are saying, right?
Yeah, very good point.
Should we do a role play, Michelle?
Michelle, let's do it.
So here you are new at the office.
And I am showing you around Perfect new office situation.
Here we go. I know it feels like a lot but you'll easily get the hang of things over time.
Thanks Lindsay right now.
I'm just trying to get a sense of how to get around this building.
Oh, it's so confusing.
I know if you want to take a walk with me during lunch. I can help you get a feel for how to find your way.
Thanks. I'm still fine feeling out my new smartwatch too maybe the GPS yes, will help me.
That's an awful scenario.
Imagine you're in your first day at work first week and you still have to figure out the building, not to mention your workplace.
And then you're like you're worse fears, your co -worker is going to find you lost in a corner somewhere.
Well, what I find this was I had to go for something at my son's school and his school is kind of big circle and I'm still trying to feel out how to get around and I had to find the teachers Lounge and I had to ask for directions on the way and I'm just kind of circling around and it's like, Oh God, it's like one circles.
Okay, but two or three you start to get a little embarrassed.
You say, oh yeah, and you have no idea what they're talking about.
They use those trigger words like, oh, it's just over here.
It's just that That way, they make it sound so easy, right?
I love that. I think we did do an episode on Just Once.
We may do a new one soon.
Who knows? We'll see.
Alright, Michelle, let's break this down here.
So, what did I say first?
You said, I know it feels like a lot, but you'll easily get the hang of things over time.
So this is specifically about learning.
Okay. Good. And then you said, thanks, Lindsey.
Right now, I'm just trying to get a sense of how to get around this building.
So it's not even so much as work, I just can't get to the door of the workplace.
If you want to take a walk with me during lunch, I can help you get a feel for how to find your way.
Yes, again, it's not like she's going to sit and lecture you on all the turns to make, but you're going to sense out and get a feel of the layout of the space, of the land.
Yup. Oh. And then you said thanks.
I'm still feeling out my new smartwatch, too Maybe the GPS will help.
So you just got a new smartwatch and you're trying to kind of make a joke about like yeah Oh, I'm gonna actually need a GPS here You might who knows who knows right?
Great. What was another episode our listeners could go to right away to keep listening Yeah guys check out episode 380 that was accidents happen.
How to say you made a mistake at work I really like this one because it matters so much what we say.
We all make mistakes so what are we going to say because that's going to determine our reputation at work?
How much do people trust us and how much do they respect our competence?
Yeah, very important.
All right. Takeaways for today.
What do you think? Alright, Michelle.
This is all about just really understanding that most of the time we learn things not by being told them.
But by figuring them out, we figure them out.
We use our senses, our sense of smell, touch, taste, to figure out what we think of something and what is the geography of something.
So we need words to express that.
Definitely. All right.
Well, that sounds good to me, guys.
We hope you gave you a sense of how to use these expressions and try them out in the business world and then your personal life.
Go for it. Alright, sounds good Michel, I'll see you back here very soon.
You have a good day.
You too, bye, Lindsay.
Bye. Thank you for listening to Business English, a podcast just for you, the high achieving global professional.
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