This is the Business English Podcast, Episode 517.
Roll the dice and start an English conversation.
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Hey, Michelle, how's it going?
It's going well, Lindsay, how are you?
Pretty good.
Pretty good.
What are we talking about on the show today?
So Lindsay, as a business owner, do you ever feel like you have to roll the dice and see what happens?
Oh my gosh.
Every day.
I feel like pretty much everything we do.
You know, we make informed decisions based on survey data, based on what we know about our market, our industry.
But in the end, like when we decide to build a particular course, We are sort of rolling the dice.
We don't really know how that course is going to do, how it's going to be received by our listeners, by our audience.
Right.
So, yeah.
Yeah.
A lot of that.
Definitely.
Yeah.
So today we're going to talk about this idiom to roll the dice and just how useful it is for business and connection at work or even out of work.
So this is a really good one.
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Yes.
Michelle, what does it mean to roll the dice?
What do you think of when you hear this idiom?
Well, I think of actually somebody rolling the dice.
Guys, if you're not sure that yeah dice, you know they are the like.
Die is a singular, but you always say dice.
Um for like, when you're playing a game or you think of the casino, you're rolling those things with the the, the white cubes with the black numbers generally.
And, um, so, but you never know what you're going to get when you're rolling dice.
You never know when I think about this, I just think about a casino.
Exactly right yeah, same.
Uh, we just drove i said before on the other show, we drove out to los angeles from colorado and passed a lot of casinos, especially in nevada.
On native american lands they have casinos and it's like a big part of the culture right, and so you think about someone, like in las vegas, playing the game and taking a chance right yes, right.
So you're taking really some sort of risk, i mean when you roll the dice, because you don't know what you're gonna get.
So This can be used to talk about any risk that you take in business.
So you could use it in many ways.
You could use it to encourage someone or talk about why something didn't work in many different ways.
Should we give some examples?
Yeah, let's do it.
So for example, I decided to roll the dice and apply for the position.
So you're just saying, hey, I just took a chance and I submitted my application.
That's it, right?
Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
Or I really think we should roll the dice.
If it doesn't work, we can always go back to our other plan.
Good.
Or how about this?
Come on, we got this.
Let's roll the dice this one time.
So here you're encouraging me to maybe actually take a chance, some kind of chance.
I don't know.
What kind of scenario could that be, Michelle?
Let's say we are...
Let's roll the dice this one time.
We always do something in a certain way.
Like we always create our PowerPoints in the same way.
We always start with a certain kind of introduction.
And then we say, oh, I'm getting a little bored.
I want to make a change.
And I say, oh, I don't know.
I'm a little risk averse.
Right.
Right.
And you say, come on, let's roll the dice this one time, right?
Yeah.
Or even if you I could see if you're a creature of habit and you like always order the same thing at a restaurant.
You might use this to tease someone like hey roll the dice, try something new, right.
Right, right.
That is true.
Lindsay, do you eat something different for breakfast every day?
Or like, is there one meal that is like pretty much always the same?
I kind of have a steady meal, Michelle, for breakfast.
Yeah, me too.
I usually go for the oatmeal or something like something like, like a buckwheat sort of cereal.
I try to stay away from the sugary cereals.
So I try to Most of the time.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Same here.
Yeah.
It's like, yeah, I, once you find something that works, sometimes you just stick to it.
Yeah.
Um, so yeah, I mean, I think that when you say roll the dice, that sounds strong, even though it's about a gamble.
It's like you're just somehow, when you say you sound confident like oh, let's roll the dice right sure yeah, i think so.
I mean the idea of risk taking right, we have.
You know, everyone has an orientation towards risk and we learned it from our parents.
No question um, what did we see our parents do?
How did they talk about risk?
And then that follows us throughout our lives, i think.
But you can also become more or less risk averse as you get older right, Right.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, Lindsay, when would you say you have rolled the dice in your life?
Probably when I moved to Tokyo right after college.
That was that was a roll of the dice.
Right.
That was a roll of the dice because I really didn't know what it was going to be like.
I had heard stories of people that went to teach English in Japan.
But honestly, you're getting hired from New York.
You're interviewing in New York.
You're getting assigned a place in Tokyo.
You don't know your apartments in Tokyo.
You don't know your school.
You don't know the people you're going to work with.
And they just get on a plane and you show up and they pick you up at the airport and that's it.
And then that night you're at a party with all your adult students are surrounding you and ready to party and welcome you into the school as the new native teacher.
It's a big roll of the dice.
Yeah, that is a roll of the dice.
I love it.
I mean yeah, for me too a big move like moving to New York City right outside of right out of college.
I mean, I didn't I had a summer place to live.
I didn't really know much of anyone.
I didn't even have an official job.
So that was definitely a roll of the dice.
And I'm glad you said it like this.
And I just repeated that structure as well.
You might hear someone say, well, let's roll the dice.
But you could also hear this structure.
Something is a roll of the dice.
Yes.
Something was a roll of the dice.
So it means it was a risk.
So you said, oh, it's certain that was certainly a roll of the dice.
Right.
Yep.
Well, what do you think, Michelle?
Do you think it's philosophically speaking?
Do you think it's do you find yourself like more risk, more open to risk as a younger person?
Like, do you feel like younger people take more risks is my question in life?
Like moving or trying something new?
Do you think that as people get older, it becomes harder to do that?
I think in general, like the easy thing is to say yes.
Right.
Like that's like I think the most obvious answer.
But I don't know that it's like certainly because when you're younger you have you don't have as much tying you down.
Right.
You don't have to think about your whole life.
Yeah, less to lose.
I mean, and it's such a time where it's really valued, like this risk-taking, I think, is a little more valued than if, all of a sudden, as an adult, you start to take these risks.
Yes.
But I think the risks are just different.
They're maybe not as exciting as moving somewhere, but they might just be, you know, different kinds of risks.
Yeah.
So...
Yeah, I think that's true.
As you get older.
The one thing that in our economy people do change industries more than I think other parts of the world.
So that is one area where people are maybe more open to risk financially.
And people will totally change their career sometimes, move from one field to the other.
And I feel like that's less common around the world.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Really interesting.
Yeah.
So yeah, you might hear someone say something like hiring her right outside of school was a roll of the dice, but she really lived up to our expectations.
So, yeah, also could be for companies hiring people.
You know, when a company hires someone, that's you're always taking a chance on a new hire.
Right.
For sure.
Or maybe if you have a job that's open and you say the requirements are you need like a bachelor's degree and a graduate degree, but then this person applies and the person doesn't have a degree but they have really like street smarts and good real world expertise and experience, that might be a roll of the dice to hire them, but it could really pay off in a major way.
Right.
Because sometimes you just get a good feel.
Sometimes it's like, okay, what's on paper, but then there's also the feeling that you get.
So somebody might be perfect on paper and then you talk to the other person and you're like I don't know.
I just have this, this feeling about them, this excitement.
So going with your gut, right?
Yeah.
Love that.
Mm-hmm.
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Okay, so there are other ways.
I mean, we talk about risk in our culture a lot, right?
Our society, our economy is structured in a way that, I guess, rewards us.
I mean, historically speaking, has rewarded entrepreneurship, has rewarded risk-taking, right?
So this is really in our narrative in American culture, or it has been.
So what are some other things we say, Michelle?
Yeah, well, I would say the most basic one, the most neutral one is just take a chance.
Take a chance.
Right?
Yeah, take a chance.
I think we should take a chance on this candidate.
Her experience is excellent.
Yeah.
Isn't there a song like take a chance on me?
I feel like there's something.
Oh, yeah, yeah.
Take a chance.
I think it's ABBA.
Yeah.
Then there's also, yeah, there's also a Kelly Clarkson.
I mean yeah, there's so much you'll hear so much of this in our music and it's everywhere.
Because I think that it goes back to what Lindsay said about in our culture, like valuing these types of things, this risk taking.
Yeah.
I mean, I think it probably comes back to I don't know like westward moving frontiers people and they just, you know, exploration was a big part of how our country developed, right?
People moving west, they were taking massive risks in discovering the west.
So it's really baked into our narrative.
Take a risk is another thing we say, also pretty neutral and basic, right?
We took a risk with changing the date, but I think it actually paid off.
Yes.
Mm-hmm.
What about something bigger, a little more emotional, Michelle?
Do you want a more emotional example?
No, another phrase that would be a little bigger.
Oh, oh, oh, sorry, sorry.
Okay, I thought you were looking for another example.
A leap of faith.
Yeah.
So yeah, that's like when you actually just It's this idea of like oh, I'm just jumping into something and I'm just trusting that it's going to work out.
Yeah.
Actually...
I just finished watching it's embarrassing.
But Dan and I like to watch the golden bachelor.
That's my one reality TV show that I love.
Okay.
And just now, just thinking about it, that the most recent bachelor was saying like he was, like describing himself.
I'm not going to spoil it for anyone, but as I but yeah, he was like Oh, I'm not like a, like a leap of faith kind of person.
So it's very common.
So yeah, sometimes that can really describe you.
If like, if you, are a person who takes leaps of faith or you don't.
But sometimes people really limit themselves in life because they say, I'm not a risk taker.
I don't do those things.
Other people do those things, right?
And it's kind of limiting because it puts you into a box.
It puts you into a box.
Yeah, I think.
Interesting.
OK, good to know a little trivia about you, Michelle.
You watch The Golden Bachelor.
Yes, I do.
So I've been hesitant to make these changes, but OK, I'm going to take a leap of faith.
Let's do it.
Yeah.
And this is a little more dramatic than the other than take a risk or take a chance.
It's where it's a real moment that you've decided to take a leap of faith.
But it's the same kind of scenarios.
You might take a new job, change your industry, ask someone out on a date.
Right.
Yeah.
Or give it a shot.
This is the last one.
I like this.
It's conversational.
It's common.
What would be a sentence there, Michelle?
I'd love to give this new software a shot.
I think it could really help us out.
Yeah.
Nice.
All right, Michelle, let's get into a role play.
So here you are trying to convince a coworker to try a new software.
And yep, this is some area where risk would apply at work because you have a reputation at work.
People see you in a certain way.
And when we try new software, we're risking our reputation.
Like what if we can't understand it?
Right?
Yep.
Yeah.
And the learning curve, there's a lot to it, you know?
Yeah, for sure.
Okay.
All right.
Oh, I'm afraid of change.
I know.
I get it.
I just have heard wonderful things about it.
And I think it could be a huge help.
I know it's a roll of the dice, but I don't think it's a very high risk.
I just feel worried about taking a chance on something so new.
That makes sense.
You're right.
It's a leap of faith.
I do know other offices who use it, and they told me to give it a shot.
Okay, okay, let's take a risk.
Okay.
And sometimes this can help if you can just brainstorm how you're feeling, share how you're feeling when you're about to take a risk whether it's asking someone out or doing something at work or just share that anxiety with someone right?
And it can help you talk it through, build a bit of a narrative, you know because again, a lot of our movies are based on this idea.
And I think it's good to just feel like you're I don't make it an event, right?
You're going to take this risk.
We're going to see what happens.
Just we'll make it easier on you emotionally.
Yeah.
Okay.
What did you say first?
Okay.
So I said, I know it's a roll of the dice.
So there's that construction, a roll of the dice.
Yeah.
But I don't think it's a very high risk.
Right.
And then I just said, I said, I just feel worried about taking a chance on something so new.
So there's taking a chance is that phrase.
And then I said, that makes sense.
You're right.
It's a leap of faith, right?
So this is the more dramatic expression.
Right.
So you're kind of validating what I'm saying.
It is a leap of faith.
It's slightly the bigger expression.
And then I do know other offices who use it and they told me to give it a shot.
Just give it a try, right?
And then you thought about it and you said, okay, okay, let's take a risk.
Yeah, exactly.
Yeah.
And again, having that conversation can definitely help.
Michelle, what's another episode our listeners should check out?
Yeah, check out episode 506.
That was, do you get the short end of the stick at work?
Interesting thought-provoking question, right?
So go and find out what we mean by that and find out if you do by listening to that episode.
Michelle, where's our takeaway today?
What should we leave our listeners with?
Well, this is just such an incredible connection topic.
Yeah.
For work, for outside of work, it can be used in so many different ways.
You can be sharing history of yourself.
You can be encouraging someone.
You can be trying to convince someone of something.
But I think everybody can experience this feeling of taking a risk at some point in their life and it's a very like human connection area.
Yeah.
And also guys, it's a great topic to talk about, like get a meta perspective on your own culture, your own economy, how things work, what the values are, what people praise and what they discourage.
Um, what do we teach children? right?
This is, I love to step back and look at culture and I bet our listeners do too.
So you could start a connection conversation with anyone from another culture.
Be like what's your culture's attitude towards starting a small business or uh, taking any kind of risk right?
What do kids get taught in school?
Um, we learned these things from a very, very young age.
So it's fascinating to look at this, I think.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Really interesting stuff.
Well, Thanks so much, Lindsay, for talking about this with me today.
And I'm wishing that all of the risks that you take in your life pay off.
I hope so.
They don't always pay off.
That's the thing we have to know, right?
They don't always work out.
And that's okay, though.
Some of them, hopefully, right?
Yeah, that's true.
All right, Michelle, we'll talk to you.
A good portion.
Yes, okay.
All right, take care, Michelle.
All right, bye.
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