This is the Business English Podcast Episode 475.
Is your job on the line?
How to talk about risk at work.
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Hey, Lindsay, how are you?
Good, Michelle.
How are you?
How's it going?
I'm doing well, thanks.
Lindsay, you...
You shared a lot about when you lost your teaching job.
Did you have a feeling that your job was on the line or was it a total shock?
It was actually a total shock.
Yeah, I had no idea.
All of a sudden, I walked into work one day and that was it.
But in the context of the time, a lot of people were getting that.
That was happening.
It was September of 2008.
Um, so a lot of people were walking into work and getting and losing their job.
It was crazy.
So I did not know my job was on the line, Michelle.
Yeah.
Well, that, yeah, that must have been, that must have been really tough.
And on the line is what we're going to be talking about today, because we have a YouTube question um from Sophia um, So we love Sophia.
We love her questions.
And she says, Hi, Lindsay, Michelle and Aubrey.
I'm Sophia.
Thanks so much for creating your podcasts.
Listening always feels fun and relaxing.
But at the same time, it's full of practical English lessons.
It's never boring or stiff.
Well, thank you, Sophia.
Thank you.
And yeah, she says in the episode business English from English okay, it says keep your eye on the English prize from August 18th.
This part stood out right there's no prize.
This is the quote from the episode.
There's no prize in this expression, but it's still a useful one.
But you could say something like we got to stay focused, our bonuses are on the line.
And then Sophia says could you please explain how to use the phrase on the line in everyday English?
Thank you so much.
Have a wonderful day.
Yeah.
Great question as always.
Great question as always.
I love that.
I love that Sophia takes questions in context, right?
Especially from our episodes.
That's great too.
So we're going to address this one today.
Perfect.
Love it.
So yeah, let's get into it.
On the line.
Yeah, this is a really useful one.
Of course, we can use it.
You might hear it for people talking about being on the phone, right?
She's on the line with a customer.
She will call back.
But is that really how this example used it or what we're going to focus on?
That's not what we're going to talk about today.
That's too simple.
We like to teach our listeners the higher level stuff, right?
The more figurative stuff.
And so that's what we're getting into today.
Um, should we talk a little bit about the example from that episode?
Michelle yes, yes so.
And also yeah, be sure to check that episode out if you haven't listened to it.
Um, so it says you could say something like we.
So we gotta stay focused.
Our bonuses are on the line.
So what does that mean?
To say our bonuses are on the line?
So it basically means our bonuses are at risk or could be lost.
We're at risk of losing those bonuses, right?
Yes.
Yeah.
So exactly.
There's some sort of danger of something occurring, right?
It's not really a positive thing.
I would say it mostly has a negative connotation, right?
So something bad could happen in a certain circumstance.
So Another example would be my job was on the line after I lost that deal.
I'm so glad she gave me another chance.
Yes.
And you know, in our professional English level two course which came out this fall, this is these are the high stakes situations that we talk about in that course, where your job could be on the line.
Your reputation could be on the line.
Your company's reputation could be on the line.
Right?
Exactly.
Yeah.
Really important here.
So, Lindsay, what's another example?
I can't botch this again.
I was told in my last review that my job is on the line.
Yeah.
Not good.
That's not a fun place to be.
As a bonus, Michelle, botch.
The word botch.
Botch.
Yes.
It means mess up.
Yep.
Yep.
Totally.
To botch.
To totally mess up.
Totally ruin something.
Yeah.
Ruin.
Yep.
I mean, why is this useful for business?
I think it's really important in business to be able to express how important something really is.
What is the context of it?
Where does it sit in relation to other things?
And express that something might be at risk or in danger.
It can allow you to put a warning on something, flag something, tell people hey, be careful with this.
This really matters.
Mm hmm.
Yeah, you have your guard up.
I mean but Lindsay we, it's not only.
When I hear on the line, I often think oh, job is on the line.
That just to me sounds very natural.
But we don't only use it in that way.
So there are other things that can be on the line.
Right.
So we're going to talk about that.
But you would you could say someone's ex is on the line.
Right.
The And we're going to talk about that after the break.
What are some common things that might be on the line?
All right.
Looking forward to it.
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Okay, Michelle.
So what else can be put on the line, Michelle?
What could it be?
So what does that mean?
She extended her heart.
She opened her heart.
She made her heart open to being vulnerable and open to being rejected or broken.
Right.
To being hurt.
Yeah.
So it was on the line.
Lindsay, what's something else that could be on the line?
I mean, I mentioned this earlier, reputation.
Now, I know this is a team project, but I can't help but feel that my reputation is on the line after last time.
So maybe one person on the team might feel more like the person that could get blamed if things don't go well on that project, right?
Yeah, exactly.
So your reputation or another thing could be your health, right?
I had to take a couple mental health days.
I was starting to feel like my health was on the line.
Hmm.
So that you're, you know, that your health is in danger, that it's fragile, right?
Maybe, you know, you're not feeling so well.
So yeah, Michelle, any examples in your life where something's been on the line?
Anything?
I'm trying to think.
I mean, well, sure.
I mean when I was In a senior in high school I told the boy that I liked, that I had a crush on him.
So I guess I put my heart on the line.
What happened in the end?
Did it work out?
He didn't like me.
Well, we were friends.
It wasn't, you know, but I remember feeling like, and it was, you know what?
The other thing was college was about to start.
It wasn't really a great time in any case, but it wasn't a match.
But I remember I was really proud of myself that I put my heart on the line because it just showed a certain new level of confidence in myself that I was able to do something like that.
What a cool thing right before you go to school, right before you move on to that next stage of your life.
In American culture, moving on to college is a big deal, right?
Kind of becoming an adult.
So good thing to do to push yourself into that world.
That is kind of being an adult is...
Understanding what's on the line and sometimes you move forward anyways, you take a risk, right?
Yeah, absolutely.
So yeah, and just before we go, I also wanted to bring up a couple words that reminded me of this.
So one is in jeopardy.
This is a big one.
We could do a whole episode about this.
But my relationship with my colleagues is in jeopardy because they heard me complaining about them.
Uh-oh.
Yeah, similar on the line, right?
In jeopardy, in danger, right?
Yeah, in jeopardy might be even more negative, right?
Trending towards you're really in trouble, right?
But it's a good example.
Maybe our listeners know the game Jeopardy, right?
The famous game show that I feel like my grandmother used to watch.
Oh, yeah.
So many people watch it.
People watch it every day.
Yeah.
Yeah, for sure.
Or on thin ice.
Now we know when we walk out onto a lake in the wintertime if the ice is thin we can fall through and that could be disaster right.
So he knows he is on thin ice.
So trust me, he will not forget the meeting.
So maybe someone is on a performance improvement plan, a PIP, what they call them, right?
A written plan where your boss has said like, we don't like your performance.
Here's the problem.
Here's how you need to improve.
And so he's on thin ice.
Right.
Yes.
And just to note, you wouldn't say, oh, my like you wouldn't use this with the heart example.
Like my heart is on thin ice or you want to say my heart is in jeopardy.
No.
Right.
It wouldn't be as common.
So context matters here.
Right.
Definitely.
So should we do a role play?
Let's do it, Michelle.
So here we are, colleagues, and we're talking about our team here.
OK.
OK.
Yeah. think we should do something nice for our team.
Otherwise we may be in jeopardy of losing some of them.
You're right.
The problem is some of them feel like they're on thin ice regarding job security.
You think they really feel like their jobs are on the line?
All right.
Having a serious conversation here, right?
Very serious.
So you said, I think we should do something nice for our team.
Otherwise we may be in jeopardy of losing some of them.
Okay.
Yep.
Yep.
And then you said the problem is some of them feel like they are on thin ice regarding job security.
So yeah, they're not feeling comfortable.
Yeah, they're nervous.
They're worried, right?
Maybe they see the economy's bad and they're just worried about their jobs.
And then you say you think they really feel their jobs are on the line.
So you're asking me, Is it really true that they think that they could be fired or laid off?
Yeah.
And I say yes.
Yes.
Yeah.
Interesting stuff here.
Yeah.
So, Lindsay, really, really good question here.
I'm glad that we talked about this.
Anything we want to say?
I don't think I recommended another episode.
Well, there's lots of episodes that our listeners could go to.
Lots of episodes that you can go to.
So one is, oh, here's a good one.
Episode 469 was, is your job secure?
Safety and related topics at work.
That ties in really nicely.
I love it.
Sure it does.
Okay.
Anything you want to say before we head out today, Lindsay?
Yeah, I think in business it's really important verbally to be able to point to what matters what's at risk and what is not at risk, right.
So if you're a manager, a leader, or even just a team member, right?
You want to signal using these phrases that something really matters and that we should pay extra attention to something right?
Yes.
This is what this skill is for today.
Perfect.
All right.
Well, thank you again to Sophia for this question.
And Lindsay, thanks for chatting.
All right, Michelle.
Talk soon.
Bye.
All right.
Bye, everyone.
Bye.
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