This is the Business English Podcast Episode 300.
Don't be startled by Business English Vocabulary.
Welcome to the Business English Podcast from all ears English.
Get the English skills you need to achieve your dreams in global business.
For a presentation, a meeting, or your office party, this is Real Business English with your favorite American hosts, Lindsay and Aubrey coming to you from Arizona and Colorado, USA.
Hey Aubrey, I have a question for you.
Ready? Yeah. So I am curious when is the last time you almost jumped out of your skin?
Oh, I love this idiom. Just yesterday, I have a brother who delights in like hiding around the corner and jumping out and scaring you and you'll just grab you and go, and I am always so startled scream.
Right? So I'll be like, you almost made me jump out of my skin.
I love that. You don't need to be a kid to goof around like that, right?
That's so funny. Sounds like a fun brother to have.
He is. Yeah. Yeah. Have you not grown out of this?
He did it all the time when we were kids.
He still does it. Yeah. I love that.
There are certain events for me that make me that set the scene for me to jump out of my skin.
Like I love ghost tours.
Whenever I go to a new city, I'll do a ghost tour.
And you hear these stories, right?
You're walking along. It's kind of dusk in the evening.
You hear that this house you're looking at has been haunted for years.
You hear the story of smoke showing up at random times.
And then maybe you turn around and you hit it like a tree branch and you jump out of your skin.
Right? Totally. So it's all about being primed to feel that.
I wish there was, we were in Virginia, city Montana this past weekend and they do a ghost tour in this old west town.
You should have done it.
We were trying to get to Yellowstone National Park as well that day, but I was sad.
Yeah. The next time go back, that is the bet because you actually learn about history.
It's really, they're really history tours, right?
Absolutely. And it's fascinating.
So we want to remind our listeners, guys, hit that follow button to find out what our approach is to business English.
Aubrey, how is our approach a little different from your traditional business English podcast?
What would you say? You are not learning textbook English here.
Yes. We are teaching you how we actually talk at work in business English, which often is more informal than you might think.
We do use idioms a lot in business English.
So be sure to hit follow so you don't miss any of our amazing episodes.
Yes. And this question for today's episode comes from YouTube.
We do have a YouTube channel.
Guys, go type in allers English on YouTube.
You will find the allers English YouTube channel.
This is from Omed Kazary or Omed Kazen 7393.
Aubrey, could you read the question for us?
Absolutely. So the question is thanks so much, Lindsay and Aubrey, for making this amazing video.
First of all, both of you really bring out the best in your language learners and you show the ropes of vocabulary grammar and speaking skill because you know the language inside and out.
Oh, I have so many great idioms here.
Thank you. So good compliment.
Yes. So nice. Yes. And then they asked, could you please tell me if we can use this idiom right now to jump out of the skin.
Thank you in advance. I can totally see why if I saw this idiom as a language learner and be like, what does this mean?
Is it appropriate? I want to make sure there's no maybe hidden meaning or you know, can I use it?
Especially can I use it at work?
Yeah. And I love that our listener is saying this.
Can we use this right now?
Right. That's a key part of the question.
Not just can we use it or how do we use it right now?
So this listener is very aware that culture is changing really fast.
We're becoming much more socially aware, historically aware as a society, right?
So languages evolving, some idioms we can't use anymore.
They're either offensive.
We've started to realize and be more cultural, culturally sensitive.
And so some idioms are being phased out.
Yeah. So let's get into what it means, Aubrey.
Let's get into the details here.
Yes. And we're going to share details about using this one.
And then a couple of similar expressions that you can use as well.
So jump out of one skin means to be extremely startled, clearly used to exaggerate.
You can't actually jump out of your skin, but you can imagine it's a very visual idiom where when someone is so startled that they jump.
Yeah. And you can imagine like this will happen in a cartoon where it'll show somebody jump and they do like leave their skin behind.
Where they're they run so fast or they jump.
Yes. Yes. 100%. I've seen that before.
So you made me jump right out of my skin, right?
Or when I saw him in the elevator, I nearly jumped out of my skin.
And this we're used, it's just like extreme surprise.
I was so surprised to see him there.
Yeah. And so what do we think, Aubrey?
Is this one okay to use when you were researching it?
Did you see anything from like any historical references?
What do we think about? Yeah.
No. It's very it is very informal, right?
So I can't imagine using it in a super formal, like an interview or talking with a new client.
Yeah. Other than that, right?
A lot of business English were a lot more informal.
If you're just saying that you were super startled, you can absolutely say this at work.
Love it. I was super startled.
Good to know. Oh, that leads into number two though.
Startled. Exactly. Right.
Yes. Such a fun adjective, meaning experiencing sudden shock or alarm.
See, I was startled. It means I was and it's a little more than surprised.
It's very much something sudden, like something really jumps out out at you and then you're startled.
Right. So for example, the news that the BP is stepping down startled me.
I didn't see that coming.
Right. Yeah. It's very sudden.
It's like a sudden shock.
For sure. Or we might say I was startled to see you at work today.
I thought you were homesick.
Yeah. That's interesting.
You could also say there.
I was surprised that would work the same way.
Yeah. Surprised would work for both of these, right?
Yeah. Surdled really is when startled would work, but surprised wouldn't is more like where my brother was scaring me from around the corner.
I wouldn't just be like, I was surprised.
It's like, you startled me.
Yeah. I think there's something physical.
Right. There's something physical about startled.
Maybe we'll do another episode.
I'll breathe. That could actually feel like even just the tiny jump where it's like, oh, something physical.
So over on all of English, guys, if you search for all of English, hit follow.
We'll probably do another episode one day about surprised versus startled versus something else.
That could be like we used startled the most often to just say you startled me.
Yeah. And it's like when you just maybe you're in your own world, you're daydreaming and someone bumps you or says something loud or sneezes really loud.
You'd be like, oh, yeah.
He startled me. Oh, I don't love loud sneezes, especially at home with my partner.
I always say, don't do that.
You know, it startled me.
I don't like me so loud. Let's see.
Oh, I hate that. Maybe I wouldn't try to be playful.
You like work colleagues.
That's like super vocal.
I think your partner does.
It just drives you nuts.
That's one thing. I just can't handle it.
I think you added on to that sneeze.
You added energy or your scream or something.
My husband does that too.
And so does my dad. They both sneeze so loud that if you're anywhere near them, you will be startled.
You're going to be like, ah, I just jump.
No, I don't like it. I don't like that.
That's a good example of a startled.
Okay. Next one. Taken off.
Yeah. Taken off. This is a little more formal.
You can use it for surprised.
It is more surprised rather than startled.
It was a little different.
You might say it really took me off guard when he wasn't prepared for the meeting.
I feel like this is elevating your language a little bit, right?
But it does mean the same as surprised me.
Yeah, I tend to use caught me off guard.
It really caught me off guard.
More than take off guard, but, you know, regional difference.
Yeah. Eventually, yeah.
Regional differences.
They both are in the dictionary.
Good point. You can either say, caught me off guard or took me off guard.
Yeah. So we're sharing this news now so that no one is taken off guard or so that no one is caught off guard.
Right? Nice. Yes. This is more appropriate for, I mean, they're all appropriate for business, but for a more formal setting, like imagine you are in an interview or you are talking to a new client, this sounds elevated to say, oh, that really caught me off guard.
Oh, perfect. Love it. All right, cool.
We're going to take a quick break and come right back.
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All right. So, Aubrey, what's the bottom line here when it comes to the thesaurus?
What should we know? We will have a sort of a pro tip here, right?
Often you can't trust the thesaurus.
We will see students look up a word like maybe startled or look up this jump out of my skin idiom.
And when I looked, there are so many synonyms that don't really mean the same thing.
They all have a little bit of nuance.
Like they are all sort of a different meaning depending on the context.
So just be careful. We've said this before.
Don't always trust the thesaurus to be giving you direct synonyms.
They're giving you words that are close depending on the context, especially if you're studying for ills, right?
Yeah. That is the worst thing you could do is go memorize addiction area and say I've prepared my vocabulary.
No, we still learning context.
Look, a lot when someone's using a synonym.
Doesn't actually mean the same thing.
And if you look up startled, you get scared, shocked, spooked, scutched, like they're all close.
But like I would write I wouldn't say I was scared when my brother jumped out.
I just was startled. We need that level of precision here.
And that's what we go into on this show.
So, Aubrey, shall we do our role play for today at an industry conference?
Yes. You and I are at an industry conference.
You want to start us out or this role play?
I didn't expect it to be this dark in here.
It's kind of taking me off guard.
It is dark. I ran into someone leaving the restroom and nearly jumped out of my skin.
There must be an issue with the lights.
Oh, you startled me. Sorry, I think I spilled some coffee on you.
I think it's not that it has got to like with our hands out to me.
It's like so dark. They're like, do they forget to pay the electricity bill?
They're condos. Yeah. Let's go through this.
I noticed you really wanted to say it's kind of catching me off guard.
I really did. I struggled there.
I struggled for you for sure.
Much more natural for me.
So, but for you, Aubrey, it's taking you off guard.
We said, you get I also here catch me off guard.
I hear both. I think I use both.
And I know when I looked up and I was using take me off guard, I saw them both.
Yeah. So, like synonyms for being surprised.
So now our listeners have two options.
You can decide which one you like more guys.
So, I said it's kind of taking me off guard, right?
And then what did you say?
And I said, I ran into someone leaving the restroom and nearly jumped out of my skin.
This is when I would say this if I'm like bumping into a stranger because it's dark.
Yeah. I jumped. Awkward.
And then you said, oh, and oh, you startled me, right?
Right. So we're really feeling around in the dark here.
Not a good conference. Situation.
But I'm not looking at you.
And maybe you bump my hand with my drink.
It's like, oh, sorry, I spilled on you.
You startled me. Or do you ever go to a restaurant that is just too dark?
You know, they just, they missed the memo and they just made it way too dark and you can't see your food.
You can't see the person in front of you.
That has happened. I feel like it's the fancier restaurants where they're trying to add to the ambiance.
But then you really just can't see anything bad.
Yeah. Yeah, not good. That's funny.
All right, what's our takeaway for our listeners today?
Yeah. So, I mean, it's inevitable that you will be startled at work.
This is a great phrase, you know, this idiom to jump out of your skin is fun.
Very informal, but you might find yourself using these at work to talk about being surprised or to tell someone a story about a time you were startled.
Yeah. And, and, you know, it is our understanding currently right now that it is okay to use this idiom.
Keep checking back in. Keep updated on these, you know, and I like the question.
Great question. You know, is it okay if we use this idiom right now?
So, really, language is evolving.
Some of the idioms that we used 10 years ago, even we don't use right now.
So, I do. I love this question.
Keep sending them in. We can let you know which idioms are appropriate for work and which you should avoid.
All right, good stuff. So, hit follow on a business English and I'll breathe.
I'll see you soon in another episode.
All right. So, I'm seeing you next time.
Take care, bye. Bye. Thank you for listening to Business English, a podcast just for you, the high achieving global professional.
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