Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 692.
Recommending someone for a job.
This is English as a Second Language podcast, episode 692.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development In beautiful Los Angeles, California.
Visit our website at eslpodcom.
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This episode is called Recommending Someone for a Job.
It's a dialogue between Harry and Judy.
Let's get started.
Okay, I think I can make it around four o'clock.
Not around four o'clock.
You need to be there at four o'clock sharp.
Got that?
I'm sticking my neck out for you by recommending you for this job, so don't let me down.
All right, I'll be there.
It's not like it's my idea to get a job at your store.
I didn't ask you to put your reputation on the line.
I don't think that job is a good fit for me.
You need a job, and you need it right now.
I'm sick of you sleeping on my couch and mooching off me.
By the time you find a job that suits your talents, I'll be in a nursing home or an insane asylum.
Our dialogue begins with Harry saying The expression.
To put in a good word for someone means to say something good about another person to a possible employer or someone who you are looking for a favor from or to get something from.
More generally, it means to recommend someone for an opportunity or a position, to put in a good word for someone.
I will put in a good word for you with Dr Lucy Say, and maybe in our cafe we'll answer your question.
I'll put in a good word for you.
Harry says that his boss had to stop by the store at 4 o'clock today and he'll interview you for the job.
To stop by is a phrasal verb meaning to go somewhere for a short period of time.
Harry's boss is going to stop by the store.
We guess that Harry and Judy work in a store, or that at least Harry does.
And the boss will interview Judy.
He will have a formal meeting where he will ask questions to see if she is a good person for this job.
Judy says, OK, I think I can make it around four o'clock.
When someone says around 4 o'clock, they mean approximately maybe a few minutes before, maybe a few minutes after.
Harry says, however, not around 4 o'clock.
You need to be here at 4 o'clock sharp.
Got that?
Sharp. is here used to mean exactly, precisely, at a specific time.
So when we're talking about time and you want to give someone an exact time, you might say I want you to leave at 845 sharp.
That means exactly at 8.45.
Not before, not after.
Another way of saying this would be on the dot.
I want you here by 8 o'clock on the dot.
That's exactly at 8 o'clock.
Harry says, I'm sticking my neck out for you.
To stick your neck out for someone means to take a risk to perhaps say something or do something that could hurt you, but it could also help you or, in this case, help someone else.
I'm going to stick my neck out for for my brother and say that he will be here at eight o'clock.
If he isn't here at eight o'clock i might be in trouble, but i am going to take a risk.
I'm going to stick my neck out for him.
In general, you can use the expression not for him, but for yourself.
You can just say, I'm going to stick my neck out and say that the capital of Spain is Madrid.
You're saying, I might be wrong.
I'm taking a risk.
If I'm wrong, I'm sure several thousand Spaniards will email me.
So I'm sticking my neck out.
Actually, I'm pretty sure Madrid is the capital of Spain.
So Harry is sticking his neck out for Judy.
How is he doing that?
By recommending her for the job.
To recommend, of course, means to say something that someone should do or not do, based on or coming from your own opinions, knowledge or experiences.
Harry is sticking his neck out for Judy by recommending her for the job.
So, he says, don't let me down.
To let someone down or to let down someone is another phrasal verb meaning to disappoint someone, not to meet someone's expectations.
Judy says, all right, I'll be there.
Notice that she introduces this sentence by saying That means that what you are saying is the opposite of what you think is true or you know to be true.
It's not like it's my idea to get a job at your store means it is not Judy's idea to get a job at Harry's store.
She says, I didn't ask you to put your reputation on the line.
To put your reputation on the line means to put your reputation at risk, to do something or say something that might change the way people think about you.
Reputation is what other people think about you, their opinions of you.
Judy says that she didn't ask Harry to put his reputation on the line by recommending her.
She says, in fact, To be a good fit.
F-I-T means to be a good match when something is comfortable or convenient, when two people or a person and a situation seem to be matched for each other.
I like big cities, so living in Los Angeles is a good fit for me.
Meaning, I will be comfortable or happy because I like big cities and Los Angeles is a big city.
Harry says to Judy, you can't afford to be choosy.
To afford A-F-F-O-R-D.
To do something means to be able to do something because it does not present any problems for you.
It could also mean to have enough money to do something.
I can't afford to go to Las Vegas this weekend.
I don't have any money to lose.
To afford to can also mean something without money, and that's the case in this example.
Harry says to Judy, you can't afford to be choosy, C-H-O-O-S-Y.
To be choosy means to be willing to take or have only the things that meet your very high standards or high expectations.
Another word for this is picky, P-I-C-K-Y.
Someone who is choosy doesn't take the first thing they see.
They wait until they get the best thing, the best fit, you could say, for their situation.
Some men and women don't get married as early as they used to nowadays.
Some people say that's because they're being too choosy, too picky, Waiting for the perfect man or the perfect woman Rather than someone they could grow to love.
That's some people's opinion, not mine, necessarily.
Harry says that Judy can't afford to be choosy.
You need a job, and you need it right now.
Judy says, I'm not in a hurry.
I want to find a job that really suits my talents.
To suit S-U-I-T your talents means to make good use of your strengths and interests, to be something that matches your qualifications, what you are able to do.
Harry says, I'm sick of you sleeping on my couch and mooching off me.
Now we understand why Harry wants Judy to get a job.
Judy is staying at Harry's apartment.
And he says she is mooching off him.
To mooch M-O-O-C-H off someone is an informal expression meaning to take things for free from another person, especially money food clothing, and not offering to pay them anything.
Judy is mooching off Harry by staying at his apartment and not paying any money.
He says, "...by the time you find a job that suits your talents..."
I'll be in a nursing home or an insane asylum.
Harry is saying that Judy is taking a long time to find a job and if she waits until she finds the perfect job, one that suits her talents.
Harry will be in a nursing home.
A nursing home is a place where typically old people go because they have medical problems and they need a lot of extra care and help from doctors and nurses.
It's not a hospital.
It's a place where people live for a long time when they need extra help. especially medical help.
An insane asylum is also called a mental institution.
It's a place where people who have mental problems or psychological problems go.
It's where crazy people go, to put it another way.
There are lots of informal ways of talking about an insane asylum.
Harry is suggesting that he will go crazy if he waits for Judy to find a job that suits her talents.
So he is pressuring her.
He is trying to make her get a job so she can go somewhere else to live.
I don't blame Harry.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
I put in a good word for you with my boss.
He said to stop by the store at 4 o'clock today and he'll interview you for the job.
Okay, I think I can make it around 4 o'clock.
Not around 4 o'clock.
You need to be there at 4 o'clock sharp.
Got that?
I'm sticking my neck out for you by recommending you for this job, so don't let me down.
All right, I'll be there.
It's not like it's my idea to get a job at your store.
I didn't ask you to put your reputation on the line.
I don't think that job is a good fit for me.
You can't afford to be choosy.
You need a job, and you need it right now.
I'm not in a hurry.
I want to find a job that really suits my talents.
I'm sick of you sleeping on my couch and mooching off me.
By the time you find a job that suits your talents, I'll be in a nursing home or an insane asylum.
Our scriptwriter never lets us down.
That's because it's the one, the only Dr. Lucy Say.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thank you for listening.
Come back and listen to us again here on ESL Podcast.
English as a Second Language Podcast is written and produced by Dr Lucy Say, hosted by Dr Jeff McQuillan.
Copyright 2011 by the Center for Educational Development.
