Hello everybody, my name is Coach Shane and welcome to Easy English Expressions.
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Hello everybody, welcome back to Daily Easy English Expressions, the Budcasts today.
Number 121, thank you so much for listening and enjoying my podcast.
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There's so much to learn in my lessons, but today, just the podcast, we have a great expression.
This expression is kind of a tough one.
Yeah, if you're a tough guy or a tough woman, then this expression is perfect for you.
You can say it at work. You can say it to your children.
You can say it to your husband or wife, but again, it is a tough expression.
It is my way or the highway.
It's my way or the highway.
She said it was her way or the highway.
He said it's my way or the highway.
Can you understand the expression?
I think it's not too bad.
Let's check out the dialogue and then I'll explain.
No more work from home. From now on, you must be in the office by 9 a.m.
Monday through Friday.
Why? It's so inconvenient.
Yeah, Zoom works just fine.
The commute is such a waste.
It's my way or the highway.
Dun, dun, dun. Yeah. So, when the world was experiencing COVID, what a terrible situation, what a terrible time, right?
It was scary. Are you okay?
I hope you're okay. People were afraid to go anywhere.
Many businesses even said, hey, you don't have to come into the office.
You can stay home and work.
That's cool. And so many people did.
WFH work from home. We had a new expression, work from home.
Do you work from home? I love working from home.
Did you work from home? Do you still work from home?
In my case, I do work from home and all of my coaches work from home, but I do have staff that actually go to an office.
I do. I like that. There's nothing wrong with an office.
An office can be a very good place to build team camaraderie, to build that teamwork, to share ideas, to encourage each other, to go farther and further.
That's for sure. I like the office, but I work from home.
Yeah. If the office were close by, I would, I seriously, I would definitely go to the office.
Probably not all day. I heard that people who work in an office have about four to five hours of productive time.
And then maybe three or four hours of non-productive time.
But that's okay. I think that non-productive time in a way is okay, right?
Because we need our minds to rest and to be creative and things like that.
Anyway. COVID's done. Hopefully for you, for most people, pretty much done, right?
And now companies are saying no more work from home.
You got to be in at the office every day.
And people are, some people are okay with it, but other people really hate the idea.
And that's the situation in the dialogue.
The boss says no more work from home, from now on you must be in the office by 9 a.m.
Monday through Friday.
And the employees don't like it.
Why? It's so inconvenient.
Going to the office is inconvenient.
Another guy says, yeah, zoom or Skype, you know, the online video messaging or video conferencing software.
We use zoom in all my live classes.
Zoom works fine. The commute driving to the office, taking the bus, taking the subway.
The commute is such a waste.
It is, I don't want to say a waste, but it is kind of a waste of time, a waste of gas, right?
That's true. That's true.
When I used to commute, it was a great time for me to listen to podcasts, to listen to audio books and things like that, but I understand can be a waste.
And the boss finally says, it's my way or the highway.
In other words, you listen to me.
You do it my way. You do it the way I want.
Come into the office or the highway.
And when we say highway, that's a road, our OAD, right?
It's a road that can take you far away.
So this expression means you follow my rules or get on the highway and leave.
Bye bye. You can quit or I will fire you.
Yeah, that's what it means.
At the office. So at home, if mom says to the, if my wife says to my two boys, Mikey and Jimmy, you know, no more TV.
Oh, mom, one more TV show.
No, it's my way or the highway.
Are we going to send our boys away?
Sometimes we want to. No, of course not.
What it means is you listen to me or I guess maybe you have to go to your room, no cookies, maybe a spanking from dad.
Yeah. You don't want dad angry, right?
If my wife says to me, no more drinking and I say, oh, come on, a little drinking is okay.
And my wife says, it's my way or the highway.
And that situation, it means you follow my rules or divorce.
Oh, yeah, it could mean that.
So that's why I say it's my way or the highway is actually a very strong expression.
It means you listen to me or dun, dun, dun, you're fired.
No desserts. I will divorce you.
You know, whatever the situation is, that's the idea.
So it's a strong expression.
My recommendation, do not use it to your wife or your husband.
Never use that as a threat, but use it to your kids.
And if you're a boss at work and your employees aren't listening to you, use it to your employees.
And if you're employee and your boss always uses this expression, find another job.
Unless it's a really good job, then stay there.
Follow your boss's rules, right?
All right, that is it. I hope you enjoyed the podcast.
Check out the dialogue two more times.
And together, let's master English.
No more work from home. From now on, you must be in the office by 9 a.m.
Monday through Friday.
Why? It's so inconvenient.
Yeah, Zoom works just fine.
The commute is such a waste.
It's my way or the highway.
No more work from home. From now on, you must be in the office by 9 a.m.
Monday through Friday.
Why? It's so inconvenient.
Yeah, Zoom works just fine.
The commute is such a waste.