This is the Business English Podcast, Episode 443.
How to Express a Resource Isn't Scarce.
Welcome to the Business English Podcast from All Ears English.
Get the English skills you need to achieve your dreams in global business.
For a presentation, a meeting, or your office party, this is Real Business English with your favorite American hosts, Lindsay and Michelle, coming to you from New York City and Colorado, USA.
$100 credit on your next campaign get started at linkedin .com slash results terms and conditions apply hey michelle how are you today good lindsey how are you good michelle do you carry around a lot of change like nickels dimes pennies oh no not so much and i was just it's funny i wrote this episode before this happened but i was at the mall with my kids over the weekend and you you know, those wishing wells.
Yeah. You know, the fountains.
Oh God. And my daughter was going into the water, sticking her head, like almost in the water and sticking her hand to take the coins out of it.
So I had to remind, I had to tell her, no, you're supposed to put them in.
Do you want to make a wish?
No. And so, and then, um, but no, my kids in general, they're obsessed with coins.
Really? Yeah. They love them.
They're such a novelty now.
Right. We don't, we don't really have like, I don't remember the last time I touched a dime or a penny.
Yeah. Well, yeah. Yesterday my son came home with a nickel and he, he was going to take a shower and he said, can you hold this for me?
Can you hold it? Kids love it.
But it's so cute. I know it was a cute.
So, um, but did you hear that the penny is going away?
I did hear that. Yeah.
I mean, I guess it probably makes sense.
It probably Probably makes sense.
So good. Yes. Yes. We probably spend a lot of money creating these coins that we don't use anymore, right?
True. It's true. So yeah, I guess change, change isn't that special anymore.
And dimes. Yeah. We're going to be talking about an expression with dimes today because we have a listener question.
So we're going to be talking today about how to express that something isn't special at work.
And Lindsay, we actually did an All Ears English episode.
I think you and Aubrey did it about the word run of the mill, and that was over on our other podcast, Lindsay.
That's All Ears English.
So guys, listen to the end.
I'll give you the title of that episode so that you know where to find it because that gives some great ones as well.
Good. So stay on the episode until the very end, and you'll find out exactly how to get that other one to go and get more background on this concept that things just aren't something is not outstanding or special or different right exactly and what i'm really excited about is coming up we have a lot of episodes about money and finance so guys this is gonna these are gonna be really useful for you so coming up you know really in the next couple weeks we'll be doing a couple more um tied to this subject so make sure that you hit the follow button um because Because if you're interested in this topic, and we
all should be because it's important for business and life, definitely, you know, we'll have a lot to say coming up soon.
But, Lindsay, this question comes to us from YouTube.
Could you read it for us?
It does. And guys, don't forget, we have a whole YouTube channel.
Go over there and type in All Ears English.
Hit subscribe over there.
And this is from Ludmilla, AgentChevy8668.
And they said, such nice expressions.
Thank you so much. can we add to that list to be a dime a dozen?
Right, so they're specifically asking us about the phrase dime a dozen.
Yes, and I believe that this was, I don't have it for sure, but I believe that this was probably for the run of the mill episode, adding that.
So again, I'll give you that later on.
Yes, you can. Yes, you can.
So yeah, a dime a dozen, same idea.
So yeah, Lindsay, tell us more.
What is the mean? yeah it just means that something is really common it's not unique just like the phrase run -of -the mill which we talked about in that other episode the idea that you could pay a dime and get a dozen of whatever the thing is the demand is not very high it's not expensive it's not special or different or unique or elevated in any way right exactly so lindsay why business why could this how power why could this be useful yeah i mean in business you need to know what carries value and what doesn't you know um i don't know maybe when you think about your marketing strategy with your
team and you think is it you know is it social media is it podcasting maybe you have a way of categorizing what is valuable are likes valuable right are followers valuable or what what is what is true value in a business right maybe you throw around though maybe you throw these phrases around in that sense.
Any other examples, Michelle, where this would come in for business?
Yeah, I would say giving opinions, right?
So maybe you're ordering supplies and you're just saying, oh, I don't think we should buy from here.
Oh, you know what this reminds me of?
I mean, when sales come along, do you get nervous when there's a sale?
When there's a sale like to buy like I'm day or yeah yeah or Black Friday do you feel pressure or a little anxious I don't really I don't yeah sometimes I don't even know when it's Prime Day but I know what you mean I understand how people could Black Friday they feel like they have to go and buy things for the upcoming holiday season right right you feel like oh I should buy something because I'm not not going to be able to get this price again.
So instead, I'm going to look for things even though I don't need anything, but I should find something because I have to take advantage of the sale.
So that's what this reminds me of and because sometimes that will happen to me.
I say, Oh, you know, like Wayfair.
Oh, but they're having a sale.
And I could, Dan could say something to me like, and he has.
But these are a dime a dozen.
There will be another sale, you know?
Yeah, yeah. No, that's good.
That's a good response to that, when you start to feel that sense of scarcity, of oh, my gosh, I have to buy this sale, it's not going to happen again.
You're like, Oh, it's actually not that valuable this item.
I can get it anytime anywhere.
Yeah, right. Yeah. Yeah, exactly.
So yeah, like this could be just useful for talking about that kind of a situation.
I mean, yeah, it also has this idea of just not being common, but in a way that impacts the value, right?
So it could be kind of sarcastic in a way.
way. Yeah, I would agree with that, Michelle.
I think it could be in some ways sarcastic.
Let's do some examples so we know exactly what we're talking about here.
Yeah. Okay. Yep. Okay.
All right. These types of meetings are a dime a dozen.
I don't understand why we have so many.
So maybe you have a daily standup meeting.
We talk about the daily standup a lot in our professional English level one.
Maybe people feel like they're not very valuable.
You could say when the supply of something increases, the value might go down.
Right. Right. And that's like what, you know, diamonds.
I mean, why are they so valuable in our mind?
Yeah, because there aren't, they aren't everywhere.
Yeah. Right. Right.
Right. Exactly. So, but yeah, sometimes people get meeting fatigue.
Right. Yeah, sure. I'd say, ah, you know, they're a dime a dozen.
It's not that valuable anymore.
Maybe you're just talking about the same things every day right um right but sometimes there is a value to that just connecting making sure everybody's on the same page so kind of interesting viewpoints um or you could say the lunch and learns are a dime a dozen you don't need to come if you don't have time right so they happen all the time it's no big deal yeah it's really the things that are more scarce that we place more value on you know mentally speaking um here's another one our company is so popular that our applicants are a dime a dozen we don't need to try very hard to get positions filled
oh yeah yeah maybe you don't need to put out a job ad maybe the applicants come to you maybe they're trying to make connections with you before you even have a job right sure if you have a brand name that people recognize they want that brand name on their resume that's very straightforward right yeah exactly summer's here and nordstrom has everything you need for your best dress season from beach days and weddings to weekend getaways and your everyday wardrobe discover stylish options under a hundred dollars from tons of your favorite brands like mango skims princess polly and madewell it's easy
too with free shipping and free returns in -store order pickup and more shop today in stores online at nordstrom .com or download the nordstrom app okay michelle so do you think something is less coveted in business when it's a dime a dozen isn't yeah for sure i mean yeah like we talked about the value is not as high the it's all about you know supply and demand and that really determines the value so even thinking about iphones so i i know back in like 2012 not everyone had an iphone not everyone had a smartphone or even an eye especially an iphone but a smartphone in general and i feel like they
were more coveted they were more special and now literally everyone has a smartphone right right of course, 2025.
And so, they're really not… And I know like when I was living in Cambridge, they were getting stolen, when like people were getting like robbed on the street in Cambridge of their iPhones, but that doesn't happen anymore, really.
There are so many. There are so many.
They're everywhere.
They're not necessarily like such a hot commodity.
Right. Right. Right.
Exactly. So, they're not rare.
They're common. So, let's go over ideas of ways you can introduce that something isn't special so for example I know X seems special or great or something like that but so for example I know the discount seems special but honestly these types of things are a dime a dozen right so we're introducing the idea we're saying yeah this it's It's like Dan talking to me about Wayfair.
Yeah, I know that chair was great.
These sales are a dime, a dozen.
So you're kind of, it's a dose of reality, right?
Yeah, it's good to have someone to kind of push back and show, oh, you know, you can get this anytime.
It's really not that big of a deal.
And sometimes discounts are good deals.
You have to kind of know it's hard to know, right?
Yes, it is hard to know.
Well, here's the next one.
I don't think we should X because these are a Y.
That's a very strange way to introduce it to you.
But for example, okay, so we're talking about I don't think we should focus on that skill because people who can do this are a dime a dozen, right?
So we shouldn't do this because of this.
Yeah, no, this is really interesting when it comes to the AI revolution, right?
Right. People are starting to have these thoughts of what where should I build a skill, a new skill so that I'm not redundant because AI is going to change everything in terms of what skills are redundant with AI and what skills are needed to couple with AI.
Right. Yeah. Oh, God.
Scary. Yeah. Or I'm not that excited by or I'm not that interested in this because.
Right. So this is another way to introduce this idea.
So I'm not that excited about this because I think it's a dime a dozen.
Right. so maybe i'm not that excited about um this sale because i think it's a time it doesn't or i'm not that excited about this professional uh about this conference because they're a dime a dozen right maybe you just always get spammed about different conferences different things right a lot of choices you have a lot of choices right right that's the key it's about choice and selectiveness and how elevated is something because there are other options or there are not other options yeah right right and we do have another expression that we're gonna teach um that i think is really useful for this lindsey
what is it easy to come by michelle this is a great one these types of promotions are easy to come by so i don't think it's worth it right easy to come by yeah yeah yeah really good all right let's do a role play so we're going to use just a couple of these today but in this role play we work together and we are looking through a catalog for special deals on an office supplies.
Okay. Let's do it. Yes.
Here we go. Okay. So what do you think of these?
What a sale. It's not that great of a sale.
I know it seems great, but these sales are a dime a dozen.
You think? Yeah, they're pretty easy to come by.
Oh, okay. Yeah. I mean, sometimes marketing can be really good with these big companies.
They play on the seasons.
They use bright colors when you walk into physical stores and they make it seem like a big event.
Yeah. Yeah. But it may not be.
Right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Exactly. Exactly. So I try not to fall into that anymore.
Is there another episode our listeners should check out?
Yeah. So guys, this is the run of the mill episode.
Right. So this was actually we have I built it must have been a Saturday episode.
So on all ears English, we have that's called this is not just a run of the mill episode.
So definitely put that into your search bar, but you could put run of the mill in, um, and you could find it, but yeah, that's going to be another really great one to give you just tons more examples of saying things aren't really that special.
Right. I love it. And so what's our takeaway for today?
I mean, why did you go through the role play?
Oh, we forgot the role.
All right, Michelle, what did I say first?
What did I say? You said, eh, it's not, I'm, I'm really excited about it, Lindsay.
And then you kind of shoot me down and you say, no, you say, it's not a great sale.
I know it seems great, but these sales are a dime a dozen.
Yes. I'm kind of pulling you back again, like you said, with a dose of reality and giving you that sense of taking that sense of scarcity out of your mind, right?
Scarcity comes up in our mind.
And then you say you think, meaning is that true?
Is it true what you're saying?
And I said, yeah, they're pretty easy to come by.
Very natural sounding yes yes for sure and so this is good because it if you can express this to your coworkers you might save money in your company right so you don't buy that stapler that seems so rare and that's staple gun right yeah yep exactly so yeah this can be very valuable actually really just saying it when you have to consider things like making purchases I mean every dollar adds up right do you you ever go to the grocery store, Lindsay, and the price comes out and you're like, wait, what?
What did I just do?
And every dollar, and then you look and you say, oh, well, I guess that does make sense.
Or you go to the grocery store and there's that person with the table that's doing samples and the item is on sale.
It's so special and it's two for one this week only.
I good for connection, good for practicality as well at work.
So yeah, all right.
Good stuff, guys. Hit the follow button if you love Business English and the way we focus on relationships at work and human connection.
That is what we're all about here at All Ears English.
All right, Michelle.
Well, I'll talk to you soon.
Okay. All right, Lindsay.
I'll talk to you soon.
Bye. Take care. Bye.
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