This is the Business English Podcast, Episode 436, Double Up vs. Double Down and More.
Welcome to the Business English Podcast from All Ears English.
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So, Lindsay, today we are going to be answering a question from a listener on YouTube about this Double Up.
Double up. Good expression, right?
Yes, exactly. So this is from SogolBKHarry74 from YouTube, and it says, hi, what do you mean by double up in this episode?
So whatever episode they were, you know, listening to.
is it the same as share something?
So I don't know the context from the episode, but we're just going to generally go over double up.
Yeah, that's a great question.
And yeah, we want to answer the question directly.
We'll get into it today.
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I don't know about you, Michelle.
Michelle. Are you more of a YouTube person or an audio person when you learn, consume learning?
Yeah, probably audio is easier to fit into my life.
But I do sometimes.
If I really have time, I would prefer to see it.
Yeah, nice. So guys, you do have choices here, right?
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So like we said, Michelle, we don't know how it was used in that episode but we can answer the question right yes exactly this is really great for English in and out of the office so is it the same thing as share something so it can be used in this way yeah but we're gonna go through a few contexts in which it's used and there are more but we're gonna really just focus on a couple today okay so the answer just initially the answer is sometimes it it can mean the same thing as share something, right?
Right. But not always, not always.
Right. Like when the question you asked me at the top of the show definitely does not mean share something, right?
You said, do you want to double up on recording?
Normally we record five episodes.
You're saying, do you want to do 10 episodes?
Right. Doesn't have anything to do with sharing.
So no, the answer is kind of nuanced here, right?
Exactly, exactly. Or just another example, you know, Lindsay, you could say something to me like, Michelle, we need to double up on recording for this week so we don't have to worry about recording on vacation.
So that is a common conversation.
Lindsay, like I'm sure we've used double up in our planning before trying to think, okay, we're going on vacation or whatever it is and needing to get some episodes done so that we, we don't lose track.
We don't, we don't miss any, right?
Of course. Yeah. Very common. So doubling up means kind of doubling the work right there.
I love it. Or I think it would be good to double up on the amount of copies that we print.
We want to have extras.
So maybe we're printing flyers for a conference.
We want more. So that's not sharing either.
Right, Michelle? Right.
Right. Exactly. Or would it be okay if we double up on coverage of the phones for the week?
It's getting super busy here.
So So we need another person, maybe we have a temp person, or maybe somebody usually is not answering that many phones, but we know that we need extra help.
So in a way, this kind of means share, I guess, we're sharing the duty or sharing the task.
Yeah. So yeah. Yeah, yeah, exactly.
I think, you know, you're at someone, you're sharing the work, you're adding more people to share the work, right?
But we can get even more specific about sharing, but we'll take a quick break for just a second here.
yes when you hear lululemon you probably think of a line yoga pants weightlessly soft like you're wearing next to nothing that's why you see them in class at the grocery store and in the park but did you know about skirts with built -in liner shorts so you can still jump for the frisbee and tanks and bodysuits with a lines iconic stretch you won't want to take it off and with endless style options you don't have to shop in -store or online at lululemon .com okay michelle so another way about sharing another way that it does mean sharing what would that be right so here's an example okay we don't
have enough pamphlets for everyone so you might have to double up yep and this directly means you might have to share share them right right sometimes you know you go to something and they have all the flyers at the beginning you're trying to follow along with something and they say oh we don't have enough copies you might have to double up that means share exactly or this one i know we all want to have a work laptop for home but we just have to double up for now until the shipment comes in okay so again that means we have to share somehow maybe i take it home on monday you take it home on tuesday and i
take it home on wednesday okay Okay.
Right. Right. So, um, that, I mean, that's the, again, there, when I was researching, I found a lot of stuff with double up and some I found more useful and some, I felt that wasn't as necessary for us to focus on right now for the context of our show.
Um, but I would say, yeah, again, it can be about sharing.
It can also be about just doubling the workload, adding adding people to a project for coverage, lots of different things.
But I thought it would be fun if we did just a couple other ones with double or triple.
So for example, double check, triple check.
Can you double check that the door is locked, right?
Some people like to check things multiple times.
Like that's me when I go to the airport.
Oh, me too, Michelle.
We're so similar. Really?
We're so similar. Yeah, I will check like I'm a checker for sure.
So if I get a lift to the airport, I'll check my bag like three times to make sure I have, you know, my laptop, my charger, my mouse, my wallet, my passport, you know?
Yeah. Or sometimes Dan always makes fun of me because even if we have to go in the car, even if we're just driving somewhere.
Yeah. Okay. If I've, if there are things that are really important to me that I want to make sure that I have, I can't put them in the trunk.
I have to, so I will sit with, I will sit with no foot room because I want to have those things close to me in case I, so because I've had a bit, so I don't think, oh, did I pat?
You know what I mean?
You know what my answer to this is?
There is a good side to this because I'm like that too.
It's uncanny how similar we are, Michelle, in some ways.
But my partner is the opposite.
And once Once we drove from Massachusetts to Boston and my partner did not have their license.
So we got to New Jersey.
Sorry, not Boston. We got to New Jersey.
Philadelphia, actually.
Massachusetts to New Jersey.
Yeah, and no license.
So there was no drinking that weekend.
There was, like, no ID for anything.
Couldn't get into any clubs.
Not that we were going to clubs, but I never drive to New Jersey without my license.
so so there are good good sides to that michelle every once in a while it happens where you're like ah see if i hadn't checked this or if i weren't like this then yeah but it's kind of exhausting right it's sort of oh it's like you're not free in your mind right no yeah so i might say i like for example i mean now i'm just really gonna sound crazy but like i'm i always like it when when we're leaving, if Dan is the one to check the things before we leave, you know, like, can you like, I like, I like want to like run out to the car first. So he has to be, you know, cause then I, yeah, he has to
do it. Cause he doesn't, he's not like me.
Oh, that's so funny.
Well, at least you two are different, right?
It's good that you're different.
I think that's good.
Um, here's another one.
Um, I triple checked our tech setup for the presentations.
I don't want to take any chances yep good triple check so check with people that check things over and over triple check double check then double down i really like this one right you work harder you commit more you yeah you just you double you don't have an example here but yeah you double your effort right you're gonna put more emphasis on the thing okay right so maybe you could say okay well we have a huge deadline coming up in three weeks so we really need to double down to get this done Mm -hmm.
I love it. Let's go into a role play, Michelle.
And we'll see how these all come into action.
So we are co -workers in a meeting and we're about to lead a meeting.
So we're going to co -lead a meeting.
Is that right? Exactly.
Cool. All right. So here we go.
Okay. So did you double check the agenda?
We want to make sure it's all in place before the rest of the team comes in.
Yes. I triple checked it actually.
Awesome. Thanks. It's going to be tough to tell people they need to double up on their workload until the deadline i know but we just have to double down and get it done we'll all help each other true that's good that's a good team environment where i feel like we have that team environment where we can help each other out if there's some kind of problem if someone's out like we'll come together and get the work done right exactly exactly nice so i said okay so did you double check the agenda nice and then i said yes yes, I triple -checked it actually.
And that's very reassuring for people like us.
Yes. And notice how you said that.
I like how you emphasize, I triple -checked it.
Yeah. I emphasize, intonation is huge there, right?
Yes. And then you said, it's going to be tough to tell people they need to double up on their workload until the deadline.
So yeah, it might be you need to work some late nights, right?
This deadline. Yeah.
And so highlighting the contrast here between double up and double have to double down very different.
Right. But on the same theme, kind of, right?
True. Yeah. They're very similar, but also different.
Yeah, so double up on the workload.
And then, I said, I know, we just have to double down and get it done.
Right. Love that. Yes.
Nice. Yeah. So guys, check out Business English episode 395 was don't be vulnerable to business English mistakes.
mistakes. Mhm. Love it.
Check out that episode.
Yeah, go ahead. No, you go ahead.
Oh, no, I was just gonna say what's the takeaway for today?
Yeah, good question, Michelle.
Glad you asked. I mean, this is huge.
The theme here has been, you know, putting in a little extra here, right?
Putting in a little extra, being diligent, being conscientious, which are qualities that, you know, serve a company, right?
That are attractive when you're looking for a job or when you are working in a job that that helps to make sure you're doing a good job.
So you want to articulate that you've done these things.
You've double -checked, you've triple checked.
You're doubling down.
So key pieces to be able to talk about, I think.
Okay? Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
I mean, this was such a good question and this is so common. So I think it's gonna be really helpful and you're gonna be able to use it pretty, pretty immediately.
Okay, so go out and give it a try and while you're at it, hit the follow button guys, right here on Business English.
And that's a wrap for today, Michelle.
All right. All right, Lindsay, have a good day.
I'll see you soon. You too.
Good luck with all the checking, right?
Yes, you too. Right, take care.
Have a good one. All right, bye.
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