This is the Business English Podcast Episode 527.
Are you right on time or running behind?
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This is real business english, with your favorite american hosts, lindsay and michelle, coming to you from new york city and colorado, usa.
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Hey there, Michelle.
How's it going?
It's going well.
It's going well.
We're kind of getting back into the swing of things.
Lindsay, we're recording again.
We had, we both, uh, we're on vacation and now we're getting back into it.
Um, so, but how's it going?
Kind of catching up on things.
Are you running ahead of schedule on any of your tasks for this week or how's it going?
I'm always running behind.
Honestly.
Um, yeah, the E we always underestimate the amount of time something's going to take, right?
So what I thought I was going to finish at the end of December, I'm working on this week.
And so, but that's just how it works.
What about you?
Are you ahead of schedule or you?
Well, we were just talking about how I, with my planning I'm I'm I'm, I'm perfectly fine, but I'm normally, I'm normally, with my episode planning, like very ahead of schedule, feeling really good.
I have extra padding in, in case of emergency.
And, and then with the vacation that my, my, my stash is dwindling, dwindling.
I have to build it up again.
Um, yeah.
So But that's okay.
That's okay.
We'll get back into it.
Yeah.
I mean, time is real, right, Michelle?
And time is also relative depending on what culture you're from.
Like the way we look at the urgency of time.
I'm going to say in the US, I think we're crazy in terms of how much we adhere to schedules.
Right?
Yeah.
We looked at this in my graduate program, certain cultures, and this is broad generalizations.
And we know People are different.
But we did look at how certain cultures adhere more to like a schedule based lifestyle and other cultures adhere more to like a relationship based lifestyle.
So if a meeting runs late, that means that the relationship was being built and the next meeting will start after the other meeting.
Whereas here in American culture, that's not how it works.
The meeting ends and you have to be on time for your next meeting.
It's more about the time.
It's not as much about the relationship.
So broad generalization, but it's so fun to think about those differences.
Don't you?
Yeah.
Yeah, definitely.
I mean, I know, you know, there are there.
I mean, I'm sure everybody have stories like this.
You know when you travel, and there's something different with timing.
I mean, I remember I went to, you know, I went to a wedding in India and I remember, for like the first day uh, dan and i showed up all dressed up like ready at this, like kind of welcome party, and no one was there.
Um, and they're like, are we in the wrong place?
And again, this is these are generalizations.
So um, and then, and then it was like no no, it's just that this is.
You know, It's different in different cultures.
What's common?
And if you don't know, you might find yourself waiting or showing up late.
And so it's always kind of good.
I think I learned from that experience to kind of, you know, maybe ask someone, maybe ask a friend like what time should I show up to this event?
Or, you know, so it's interesting.
Yeah, really interesting.
We just become more flexible when we travel more.
So we have to ask, what is the time and what's the actual time I should come, right?
Yes.
Really interesting.
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So today we're going to get into different ways to talk about schedules which, like we said, is super important, at least in American culture.
Yes, exactly.
So we're going to go through some of the basic vocabulary that's going to be very helpful for you when you're at work, even outside of the workplace.
So the first word is early, right?
Well, actually, sorry, we're going to do this.
I apologize.
The first word isn't early.
We're going to first talk about being early.
Okay, being early.
Okay.
So these expressions are for being early.
So the first one is ahead of schedule.
So I asked you, Lindsay, are you running ahead of schedule in any of your tasks for this week?
So are you early, right?
Yes.
Ahead of schedule.
Usually if you go to the doctor's office, they're never really running ahead of schedule.
They're usually behind schedule, right?
Yes.
I waited yesterday for an hour for a doctor.
Oh my gosh.
Wow.
That's a really long wait time.
And you never know.
So-
I just got a Kindle and I'm reading and I you know, but you never know when they're going to come in.
And so I start just, you know, scrolling on my phone and I think I could be reading now.
Oh, I don't know when it's going to be.
Maybe they're coming right in.
And then you realize you could have read the whole book.
But as soon as you open up the book, that's when they come.
They come in, of course.
Yeah.
I mean, and do we say this for like airplane, like flights, I guess?
Well, flights are never really ahead of schedule, are they?
They can't really leave early.
That would be bad.
Yeah.
But when we get to the late piece, that would tie in with travel, right?
Trains, flights, things like that.
Yeah.
Appointments, meetings, really commonly used.
What else, Michelle?
Yeah.
But so you might just hear something like, oh, wow, we are actually ahead of schedule, right?
Maybe you're in the meeting and you check your watch and you're like, oh wow, you know, maybe we'll end early.
Exactly.
The next one is before the deadline.
So there's a due date or a deadline and you're going to do something before the deadline.
So let's tell Sheila we'll be finished before the deadline.
She will really appreciate that.
Nice.
Or you could say running early.
So we're running early on this project.
I think we'll actually be done tomorrow.
Jeez, these are rare occasions that we hear this, right?
Yes, yes, exactly.
Okay, so those are about being early.
So now we're going to do on time.
Yeah.
Okay.
Okay.
So there's right on time.
I mean, you could also just say on time.
But right on time is a little zippier, a little bit more exact.
So we are right on time.
We'll be finished by the deadline for sure.
Nice.
Or right on schedule.
And this could apply also to trains, planes, and automobiles, as we say.
I don't think we need to update them because we're right on schedule.
Yes.
Yes.
Or here's another one, on the dot.
That's, you know, exactly.
This is for time, really.
You'll hear this the most.
So we'll have this to you by the deadline, 3 p.m. on the dot.
Nice.
This one's a little more casual, but totally works for business, right?
Absolutely.
Yep.
Just really emphasizing playing around and having a little more fun, a little lighter when it comes to hey, we're exactly on time, right?
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All right.
So what if we're late, Michelle?
And I feel like these are the ones that are more common where we would say this, right?
Yes.
Usually you're going to articulate this when you're late.
Yes.
What do we say?
All right.
So with these first two, we're using running, right?
Running behind.
Yeah.
You're not literally running, right?
No, you're not literally running.
It's just how that your time is going.
So I hate to do this, but let's call Bruce and tell him we are running behind.
I mean, I guess you might be running like if you're, if you are late for a meeting in Manhattan and you're coming from downtown and you decide oh, I have to walk instead of taking a subway.
You might be running to that building.
Right.
Right.
Right.
That's not what we're saying.
OK.
Right.
Right.
Exactly.
Yeah.
Running late.
Right.
So we've said running behind or running late.
I haven't received the stats yet.
The report is running late.
So the report isn't actually running.
It's just arriving late.
It's on track to arrive late.
Yes.
Or the last one is delayed.
Okay.
So I just got news that the design is delayed by another month.
Um, this is the one you hear the most at the airport, right?
Oh yeah.
My flight is delayed.
You could say my plane is running late.
I suppose you could say that, but usually you just hear delayed.
Okay.
And Lindsay, we were just talking about how you're getting some things done in your house.
Yeah.
And how, you know, you're probably getting a lot of these updates.
Oh, you know it.
Yeah.
So I know you said that it's kind of gets delayed construction and things like that.
Yeah, it's true.
And this is sort of a universal truth.
It feels like anytime you hire contractors, it just always takes longer than you expect.
So I would in this case I would probably use running behind, you know so the construction work is is running behind, like we're behind schedule.
Yeah.
Well, I mean, yeah, that's it.
Sorry.
That's interesting.
Now I'm thinking like the difference between running behind and running late.
That's interesting.
That is really interesting because I could say my contractor called, he's running late this morning.
He's going to arrive at nine instead of eight, but the project is running behind.
Right?
Yeah.
So late.
I would hear more associated with a time, a specific time deadline, but running behind is a little bit more broadly.
Yeah.
Pacing.
Yes.
Pacing.
It's project milestones.
It's expectations around what chunk of the work should be done by now and what's not done.
Right.
So there is an interesting, subtle difference for our higher level listeners here to think about a bit more.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Really interesting.
So let's put it together in our role play.
We're not going to use every single one, but we'll use most.
So here we are, supervisors going over a list of tasks that need to be completed this month.
Okay.
All right.
Let's get into it.
Here we go.
Okay.
Did you hear from the team about the campaign?
Yeah, they're almost done.
It's running right on schedule.
Oh, good.
I know last time it got delayed.
Yeah, they're right on time.
And did we get any updates from Paul?
Yes.
He said the shipments will be in early.
Oh, wow.
That's great.
Before the deadline?
Well before.
Amazing.
So the only kind of bad news... is the numbers are running behind.
I spoke to Jason and he says his team is running late.
I'm not worried though, because he said they are almost ready.
Okay, thanks for checking on that.
All right, yeah, we got to stay on top of things.
See how someone has to be a project manager here, right?
It has to be, it's operations.
Someone needs to be checking on things.
So let's go through it.
So first, you asked, did you hear from the team about the campaign?
And I said, yes, they're almost done.
It's running right on schedule.
So everything is on time, expected to be delivered on time.
And I said, oh, good.
I know last time it got delayed.
So there was some sort of holdup last time.
And then I reiterated.
I said, yeah, they're on time.
They're right on time.
Mm hmm, and then i i said did we get any updates from paul?
And he said yes, he said the shipments will be in early.
So that's just the basic i.
You could have also said the shipments are running early.
Okay yeah, you could say running i, although i hear running early a lot less frequently.
You think so kind of yeah, running early less common for me.
But yeah, but yeah yeah, probably running late is the more thing, is more what you hear with running.
Yeah, I would say so.
Yeah.
And then wow, that's great.
You said, wow, that's great before the deadline.
And this was kind of interesting.
I just want to highlight this.
We could do a whole episode on this.
You said well before.
Yeah.
What do you mean by that?
Yeah, this is tricky because if I read this in the transcript or something I might think you're saying well before.
Yeah.
Well before.
I think we need another episode on this topic.
Maybe over on All Ears English, Michelle.
Yeah, yeah.
So this just means you're emphasizing that yes, it will be before and it'll be a significant amount of time before.
A while.
Yep.
Yep.
Yep.
Exactly.
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Okay.
Exactly, um.
So then i said so the only kind of bad news is the numbers are running behind, uh.
And then i said i spoke to jason and he says his team is running late.
So it's interesting.
So we use both of these here.
They're they're kind of just more like a gray area.
Um yeah yeah, but sometimes you can more, you can tell the difference in an easier way.
And for the delivery here when it comes to intonation, just to be clear here with kind of bad news, right.
So the only kind of bad news.
So I would vary up my intonation a little bit there.
And I think I didn't do that the first time around.
I think I kind of missed it.
And then I realized as I was reading.
Well, that's why I'm highlighting this.
I also missed it the first time we said it.
I misunderstood it.
I thought you were saying like a kind of bad news, a type of bad news.
Oh, interesting.
Another subtle difference in English, right?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Very interesting.
Okay.
Yeah.
So you needed to just like emphasize that a little bit more in a slightly different way.
The only kind of bad news.
Kind of bad news.
And that would have been a lot more clear.
So you can see how much intonation, emphasis, all of these things can impact the meaning.
It's not just for to be cute.
Right.
Right.
It can impact the understanding, the comprehension, the meaning is so important.
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So go and find out what that expression means and hang out with us for another episode today.
Michelle, what's our takeaway for today?
Yeah, takeaway is, I mean, at work, you are going to constantly be using these.
I mean, we're always talking about you know what's being done, what needs to be done.
When will it be done?
And things are often very fluid, and things are constantly changing.
So to be able to express that is important.
And then also, as we talked about the cultural piece, you know, in the US we tend to be, tend to be more, you know, like very like, exact on time and nervous about time.
And in other places, it might be different.
So always good to pay attention to those kinds of changes if you're working in another country.
Yeah, have a conversation.
Start a conversation, if you have.
Maybe you're working somewhere internationally and you're all not from that culture, right?
That's the interesting thing.
Like when I was living in Japan.
I had friends from Australia, from Canada, from the UK, from all over the place right.
Singapore.
We're all from different places.
We're not from Japan.
We all have different time orientations.
So this could spark a really nice, robust conversation with friends around connection.
Like what's normal for you?
When do you, if the meeting starts technically at one, when should you show up?
Right.
It's not going to be the same answer for everyone at the table, right?
Yeah, absolutely.
So really good to you know, really take that extra step and learn about the place where you're working and how things are done with time.
Yeah, really interesting.
All right.
Great stuff today, Michelle.
We'll see you very soon.
You have a good day.
Thanks.
You too.
Bye, guys.
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