Hello, everybody.
How's it going?
Welcome back to Catchword, the Q-Lips vocabulary series for intermediate and advanced English learners that teaches you idioms, phrasal verbs and more.
Our goal with this series is to make your speaking sound more natural and help you understand the English you hear the next time you're watching a TV series or having a chat with a native speaker.
In today's episode, I'll be joined by my co-host Indiana, and we're going to teach you two expressions related to speed.
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Okay, and now let's welcome Indiana and get started with this episode.
Here we go.
Enjoy.
And joining me now to help teach this lesson to everyone is my co-host, Indiana.
Hey there, Indiana.
How's it going?
It's going well.
I've been very productive this week and I've got a lot done.
So I'm feeling good about that.
How are you doing, Andrew?
I'm doing great and I'm excited for this episode today.
Indiana.
We are going to teach everyone two expressions that we can use when we want to talk about speedy and quick results and doing something fast.
The key theme for this episode, everyone, I think is this word speed.
So Indiana, you said you were very efficient and you did a lot of things this week, got a lot of work done.
Maybe you did some speedy work.
Maybe this is an appropriate topic for today's episode.
But guys, keep this theme in mind speed, and I think it will help you to understand the two expressions that we're going to teach you today in this lesson.
So the two expressions that we are going to explain and give you some examples and tell you how to use in this episode are number one, to make short work of something, and number two, in short order.
And we'll start with the first one, Indiana.
I think that's an appropriate place to start.
So the key expression, everyone, I'll say it for you one more time.
And then Indiana, maybe you can say it for us as well.
So we can hear your lovely voice.
Also, the expression is to make short work of something.
And when I say it quickly, it sounds more like to make short work of something.
Indiana, could you say it for us as well?
Absolutely.
To make short work of something.
To make short work of something.
All right.
And I'll let you do the honors with the definition.
What does it mean if we make short work of something?
So this expression refers to completing a task or something in a very short amount of time.
Thus, we have this word short in it.
So to make short work of something, the amount of time you expected that it would take is actually much shorter.
Easy to remember, work, the work was short.
But we don't only have to use this expression with work tasks.
We could use it for chores, household chores, or perhaps even finishing a meal.
I think this is the most common situation where I would say this is if somebody like, let's say, my friend, I served him a plate full of dinner.
And he finished it up in like under two minutes.
I would say wow, you made short work of that.
Like you really finished that quickly.
Do you want some more?
It could be eating, it could be doing a task at work, but to make short work of something is to finish something very quickly.
Yeah, well said.
And that's exactly how I got the inspiration for this episode.
To be honest with you is that one of my friends was visiting my home and it was time to give my dog her dinner.
And so I prepared the dog food, put it in her bowl and gave her the food and she woofed it down.
And that's another expression that we use to talk about eating something very, very quickly, right?
Is to woof down.
And so she woofed down that food.
And then my friend who was visiting my home said wow, she really made short work of that, meaning that she ate the food super, super quickly.
And that was like the inspiration.
I thought, oh, great.
I can use this expression on Qloops.
I can teach our listeners about this expression.
And so that's why we're doing it here.
But I also wanted to point out how adding just a little spice, a little flavor to your English can really take you to that next level and make your English sound more fluent.
Because I think a lot of people in that situation maybe English learners would tend to say something like wow, your dog ate that food really quickly.
And that's totally fine, right?
You're expressing the same thought, you're communicating the same main idea, and there's nothing wrong with speaking like that.
However, if your goal is to hit that next level with your English, to sound more like a native speaker and to make your English, like I said, more flavorful, then this is the perfect expression to use, right?
And my friend is an English native speaker, so... it just comes naturally to him.
But I thought wow, that's really cool how we have these expressions in English that can communicate that precise meaning for that exact situation.
So to make short work of something just means to complete something or do something or eat something very, very quickly.
And, like you mentioned Indiana, we use it with chores projects errands homework repairs, things like that.
And maybe most importantly, eating.
Okay.
So, with that being said, I think we can move on to our two conversation examples that we're going to perform here for you everyone.
It's Indiana and I will do some voice acting.
And Indiana.
In the first example, the context is that two co-workers are very impressed by how quickly a new team member finished a difficult assignment.
So let's eavesdrop in and take a listen to these two co-workers talking with each other.
Here we go.
I just saw that Sarah finished the entire inventory audit already.
I thought that would take her at least three days.
I know.
She really made short work of it.
She had all the data logged and filed by lunch.
That's incredible.
She's going to make us look bad.
Tell me about it.
We're going to have to tell her to slow down slightly.
So in this example conversation we heard two co-workers chatting and they were talking about one of their new team members at the workplace named Sarah.
And Sarah did her first task at her new job very, very quickly, very, very fast.
She did an inventory audit, inventory audit.
Indiana, maybe we should explain those two words.
What does it mean, inventory audit?
So inventory refers to your stock of items that you have.
Usually this would be for a business, or maybe if you were working at a restaurant and you needed to take inventory.
That would mean checking and making sure that you have all the ingredients in the shelves or in the fridge and you know oh, do we need to order more napkins or utensils, things like that, for customers?
So inventory just refers to the stuff that you have, the number of items, different items.
And then an audit typically refers to checking that everything is, how should I put it?
Everything is going right and no mistakes have been made and nothing has gone missing.
I typically hear about audits in terms of taxes or finances, but it sounds like in this case, they're just checking their inventory and making sure that yeah, all of the items that they need are there.
Yeah, exactly.
So, for example, if these people work at a clothing store, maybe on their computer system it says in the back storage room they have 100 black hoodies.
And then doing the audit would be going back to the storage room and checking to make sure that indeed they have 100 black hoodies right.
Making sure that everything is okay.
And yeah, you'll hear this word audit used to talk about taxes as well.
And I think an audit will give most English native speakers a panic attack, because if you get audited, it means that the government wants to go through your taxes with a very fine tooth comb just to make sure that everything was done correctly.
So then, in this example, the coworker, the new coworker Sarah, she finished that entire inventory audit very, very quickly.
They thought it was going to take her a long time, but she made short work of it and she did it in just one morning before lunch.
Incredible.
Incredible.
Yeah.
Good.
Okay.
So Indiana, let's take a listen to the second example here, and maybe you could set the context for us.
What kind of example will this be?
Yes.
Previously just now, we've heard a work example, but in your personal life you can also use this for something like a chore.
And next we're going to hear a brother and sister chatting about successfully and quickly cleaning out their parents' basements.
Okay, let's take a listen.
Nice work.
I can't believe the basement is actually empty now.
I thought clearing out all that old junk would take us all weekend.
I know, right?
But we really made short work of it.
That only took us like, what, 90 minutes?
Yeah, something like that.
Anyway, I'm starving.
Should we go grab a sandwich or something?
Definitely.
All right.
So we just heard a brother and sister quite surprised after they made short work of a pretty daunting task.
They cleaned out their parents' basement in 90 minutes.
And if you think about how big a basement is and how much junk could be in there, you might think that that kind of task could take you many hours, if not multiple days, but they made short work of it.
So this again means doing a task, completing a task in a pretty quick and short amount of time.
And this actually reminds me of a similar situation that just happened with me and my husband.
We, in our house, we have a two-car garage.
Just barely, you can fit two small cars in there.
And we haven't been using it for the year and change that we've been living here because we just had a bunch of stuff on one of the sides of the garage.
And I was like please, before it starts snowing, can we just finish clearing it out and make room for there to be two cars in here?
So we got it.
I mean, mostly it was my husband um, cause it was a lot of his stuff, but he also made short work of it and got it done in like less than an hour.
I was so impressed.
So yeah, this is basically the same situation, but with a garage.
Yeah, very good.
And I love that expression that you just used a year in change to say that you've been living in your home for over a year, but not quite two years, right.
Just some months.
And yeah, a year in change is a nice way that we can talk about kind of an unspecified amount of time.
That's over a year, right.
And change.
Cool.
And Indiana.
One other thing that we should probably highlight is that we can kind of alter this expression.
There are some different ways to say it as well.
For example, we could say make quick work of something, right?
Maybe when your husband was cleaning the garage, we could say well, he made quick work of it, doing it very, very quickly.
Again, the meaning is exactly the same, but sometimes we can change that adjective make short work of it, make quick work of it.
I think you could probably say make fast work of it.
Would that sound bizarre to you?
Or are there any other adjectives we could use in that expression that come to mind?
I think you could say fast work, but I think quick and short are a little more common.
I think those would be the three main adjectives, yeah, that you could use with this.
Quick work, short work, fast work.
Yes, yes, yes, yes.
Cool.
All right.
So guys, a great one to add to your vocabulary and to keep your ears open for when you're doing some future English listening.
But for now, we're going to segue and transition into key expression number two for this lesson.
And that is... in short order, in short order.
And guys, listen to how this is going to change a little bit.
When I say it quickly, you're going to hear that short and order blend together.
So I'm going to say it quickly now.
And it sounds like in short order, in short order.
Changes quite a bit, the difference between slow speaking and quick speaking.
Okay, Indiana.
Actually, why don't we get you to say it as well, so we can listen to the way that you say it?
All right, let me say it once a bit slowly, and then I'm going to say it a little bit faster.
In short order.
In short order.
All right, very good.
In short order.
In short order.
Okay, so this just means, guys, that you do something quickly or immediately or without delay.
And we use it almost like an adverb.
So it's going to describe how quickly that we do some action.
So it's kind of an adverbial phrase here.
And yeah, in short order just means that you're going to do something fast and efficiently, immediately and quickly.
And there's not really too much else to define it.
It just means that doing something fast.
But when could we use this expression?
And when would we hear this expression, Indiana?
That I think is the key nuance that we need to explain.
So In your everyday life, as an English native speaker, what kind of contexts do you hear this expression used in
Yes.
So I agree with you.
It means immediately, without delay.
And normally, I would just say in my day-to-day life, oh, I'll get that done right away.
I'll do that right away.
But in short order, sounds just a little more professional.
And perhaps I would hear this much more often in a service industry context, perhaps at a hotel or a fancy restaurant, or even if I worked in maybe, a corporate job and I was speaking with my boss or supervisor and I felt that I needed to sound a little more professional, then I could say I will get that done in short order, rather than right away.
It's really not that right away or something like that is unprofessional, but this in short order really does sound a little more professional, as I keep saying.
And it's a little bit, frankly, even a bit impersonal.
It's not unfriendly, but it's not friendly.
It's just very much, I'm going to get this job done for you and sounds, yeah, neutral in that way.
Yeah, I would agree that it does sound professional.
And guys, you will probably hear this, like Indiana mentioned at a restaurant, at a hotel, maybe at the airport or in a business meeting, maybe that kind of situation.
And I think usually it's when a service worker is talking to a customer and they want to be extra polite to the customer.
Or maybe it would be an employee at a company talking to a manager or a boss, somebody who they're not really close with, or maybe to a client, and you would use this expression.
Although you could use it in your everyday life.
It's not like it's rude or anything like that.
I don't think I would use it so much like Indiana if we were just chatting, right?
I'd say, oh, I'll do that quickly or I'll do that ASAP, something like that.
But in these kinds of service industry jobs or professional situations, it's more likely that you would use it or say it in those contexts.
So with that being said, we'll jump into some examples now, guys.
And the first example that we are going to listen to is in the context of a hotel.
A customer is checking into a hotel and the receptionist is going to give some information about when the hotel room will be ready for the customer.
So let's eavesdrop in and take a listen to that now.
Here we go.
Hello there.
I know I'm a bit early for check-in, but I was just wondering if my room might be available yet.
Hmm, let me check the system.
It looks like the housekeeping crew is just finishing up, so we should have your keys ready in short order.
Oh, okay, awesome.
Now, if you'd like to wait in the lounge, I'll come find you shortly.
The second the room is cleared.
Okay, perfect.
Thank you so much.
So in this example we heard a customer checking into a hotel and he was trying to do an early check-in and he was asking the receptionist if it might be possible, maybe if the room could be given to him early so that he could check in earlier than the standard time.
And the receptionist checked the computer system and found that the room was almost ready for check-in.
So she said, we should have your keys ready in short order.
Meaning that the customer will be able to check in and she can give him the hotel room keys very, very soon very, very quickly, probably in like 10 minutes or so.
That would be my understanding.
Indiana, is that what you would think as well?
Like 10, 15 minutes?
For sure.
It doesn't seem like it's going to take very long.
Yeah, exactly.
So again right, the receptionist could have said we'll have your keys ready soon, or we'll have your keys ready quickly.
But in short order.
Yeah, it's just another way to communicate very, very soon, but with that kind of formal, polite nuance to it as well.
Let's move on to example number two.
And Indiana, I'll let you set the stage.
What's the context for this one?
Yes.
So this example is going to be showing a project manager checking in with their assistant about a contract that needs to be signed before an important meeting.
Okay, perfect.
Let's take a listen.
Do you have that signed contract from the legal department yet?
The client is going to be here in 10 minutes.
Not yet, but I just spoke with them and they're finishing the final review now.
So it should be in your inbox in short order.
All right, perfect.
Thank you.
All right.
This time we heard a project manager discussing a signed contract with their assistant and asking if it's going to be ready because the client is arriving soon.
And the assistant tells them not to worry.
The legal department is going to be sending the final review and signed contract over very soon and it'll be ready in short order.
So I think this assistant has said in short order, instead of right away or soon, to really emphasize that they're taking it seriously and that this manager can expect it.
You know, by the time the client gets there,
And I think in short order here, really shows that they're taking it seriously and being professional about it.
One final thing I want to add is guys, I recommend don't think about this expression too deeply.
Just memorize in short order means quickly, because I know that some Q-Lips listeners really like to go and do a deep dive on the expression and they're like okay, what is the order?
Is that like an order at a restaurant?
Is that like an order, like a sequence, like one, two, three?
To be honest, I don't even know.
I don't know the origin of this expression and I did try to do a little research and find it and it wasn't so clear.
And so I guess, over the years, whatever the origin of it's been lost and native speakers don't know intuitively.
So guys, you as well, don't worry about it.
Indiana.
Do you have any sense of the origin or what these words mean originally, or have you just memorized it as meaning soon, as soon as possible?
I could take a stab in the dark, but no, I really don't know what it means.
It just means as soon as possible.
Yeah.
So native speakers, we have it in our brain as just being like a new vocabulary item.
Those three words together mean as soon as possible.
And so you guys too should memorize it like that.
Don't be too analytical.
Don't do a deep dive on it.
Just memorize it and That will make you use it and memorize it just like a native speaker, like Indiana, and I have done.
Okay, so I guess, guys, that is going to bring us to the end.
We've covered all of the key expressions for this episode.
Just to review and recap, we learned two expressions that have the same theme, being speed and fast results, but they are very different.
To make short work of something we use when you do or complete a task or a project or a chore or a meal very, very quickly.
And we use in short order when we want to emphasize how soon something will happen or how soon results will appear.
And again, as we explained, we usually use this when we are doing something for someone else, like a worker in a customer service role treating a customer, or a business context where an assistant is working for a boss, something like that, where you're doing something for someone else in this kind of professional, polite situation.
Okay, so that's gonna bring us to the end but guys, we'd love for you to practice making some sentences and using these expressions and being active with your English right.
It's great to listen to the podcast, but another important part of becoming fluent is actually using English and being active with your English.
And don't worry, we've got you covered.
You can come over and join us on our Discord server.
The link to join is in the description for this episode and it's free for everyone to join.
And we'll be practicing and talking about the content of this episode over there.
So come on over and make some practice sentences.
And we're looking forward to reading and seeing what you have to say.
All right, Indiana, thank you again so much for your help.
Absolutely, Andrew.
It was a great lesson.
I enjoyed talking about these expressions.
All right.
Very good.
Everybody, take care and we'll talk to you next time.
Bye-bye.
Bye now.
