This is the Business English Podcast Episode 371, Improving Your Business English.
What a coincidence.
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Hey, Aubrey, want to grab lunch today?
yeah i'd love to i've been hoping to check out that new thai place oh you mean the one down on second that just opened yeah that's the one oh it just so happens that my uncle owns that place seriously yeah there's usually a line even for lunch but i bet i can get us in i'll give him a call oh nice you're
the right person to know here nice we're getting into the hot new restaurant love it.
Love it. Okay. We did this little role play so that you could use.
It just so happens that I say this a lot.
Do you say this a lot, Lindsay?
I do. I don't say it as much as you do, but I do mark coincidences when, when I see them, you know, there are a lot of ways to do that, right?
This is not the only one.
Yeah. And that's where we're going to get into.
I do. I don't say it as much as you do, but I do mark coincidences when, when I see them, you know, there are a lot of ways to do that right this is not the only one yeah that's where we're gonna get into today in this episode do you feel like you experience a lot of coincidences in your life Aubrey
these kind of weird moments yeah these weird and I will maybe I'll say like oh that's a coincidence or what a coincidence I remember when I was a kid I used to say coinkydink what a coinkydink it's like something that kids say I guess I think you I actually think it was like kids in the 90s maybe they
said I think it was a trendy thing.
I'm not sure. Do kids say that now?
I have not heard it.
No, my kids don't say it.
So I think it was a thing from the 90s that might not come back.
It's gone the way of the snap bracelet.
It's gone the way of the snap bracelet.
I love it. So this is fun today.
We are getting into the concept of coincidences, noticing them and naming them in English, especially in the business world.
So this is a part two follow up from our episode over on All Air's English on Saturday, February 1st.
Do you happen to have amazing English vocabulary?
Aubrey, what should our listeners do to make sure they listen to that one?
Yeah, be sure to hit follow over on All Air's English as well as Business English.
But you can search on the app to find older episodes.
Any of those words happen to, you know, vocabulary and those episodes are going to come up.
So you can check out the old episodes.
But that wasn't very long ago so you could go over and just scroll up on all their english and as i was planning that one and the all of the different ways to sort of say like happen to this you know it just so happens came up and we realized like that actually has a very different meaning so i think
wow i'm you know something lines up with something else so what is a coincidence well let's go to the dictionary aubry and see what is a coincidence according to oxford what is oxford says a remarkable concurrence I love that word of events or circumstances without an apparent causal connection so just
do things that happen that seem totally unrelated and yet like there's something that they really have in common yeah exactly and when I was looking for examples of this online I found out that John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both died on July 4th 1826 which is exactly 50 years after the declaration of independence
was written oh that is a coincidence it's not like they died together or due to each other dying no it's just a coincidence it's one of those unrelated just happened to happen on the same day interesting yep exactly or you know life events for example there are a lot of people who survive 9 -11 because they
missed their flight that day or their train connection to the airport they missed it or they were late leaving the house there are these moments where there are these huge events in life and we were supposed to be somewhere, but we weren't somewhere.
Yeah. And so maybe it was just a lucky coincidence.
Some people, some people will bring in maybe religion or fate or something bigger where they think something's more at play and others believe it's just a coincidence.
Yeah, you're right.
And that's this, ooh, this could lead to big conversation and connection topics for our listeners.
If you do want to go in that direction, if something like that happened to you, if you happen to not be at a place where there was some kind of big event, big tragedy.
What does that mean to you?
What is the message that you take away?
Right? Yeah. And it's interesting because we will use it for big things like that.
And also something super tiny.
If you show up at a party and you're both wearing a green sweater, what a coincidence.
We're both wearing a green sweater.
Or, you know, the whole scenario, which is so typical, you go to Europe and of course you run into your next door neighbor on their Italy vacation, right?
Totally. And this does have crazy coincidences or like what it really doesn't and if you think about it you're like maybe it's not that much of a coincidence because italy is a very common place for americans to vacation it's the most common week of the summer for vacations but it feels like a coincidence
and it is to us in that moment exactly why is it important to be able to communicate that a coincidence has happened there are a few reasons right first of all coincidences can feel like magic like something that's so crazy and it would almost be strange to not comment on it if you're both there you're
realizing there's this huge coincidence and neither of you says anything that would be strange yeah now I can't get the word coink eating out of my head Aubrey thank you for that oh my god yeah so it's fun as you're saying it's magical it's fun and this is the good stuff in life where we can stop I
mean we're so busy we're going here going there appointments work why don't we stop and enjoy these weird moments colorful moments that happen so it can also bring connection right brings us together yes it is a fun connection moment so you should comment on it you should say something you can both
have kind of a laugh because it will you have something in common now that you didn't have 10 minutes ago so highlight it yeah exactly and then maybe later you could refer back to it the fact that that happened if it's especially unique or interesting.
I mean, same thing in business, because our philosophy here is that business is about relationships.
We bring our whole selves to work.
So you can just as easily have a coincidence happen and reflect on that at work with someone at work as you can in life.
Okay. Yes. This is a great way to build rapport, to build those relationships, whether it's with a business partner, collaborators, coworkers.
If there's a coincidence, talk about it, bring it up.
Yeah. And how do we do that, Aubrey?
Let's dive into our phrases now for our listeners to exactly how do we reflect on it so what would be the first way we could say it yeah the first one is the one we used at the top of the episode it just so happens that so for example i might say it just so happens that the person sitting next to me
at this keynote speech is my childhood best friend's father so weird yes good example and just and this thing that tends to happen this type of situation tends to happen on air uh airplanes too uh you know it'll happen you'll your next door neighbor's brother, you happen to be sitting next to them,
but it kind of makes sense because you're heading back to your city, right?
Or if you get an argument in the airport with someone, it's likely that that person's going to end up sitting next to you.
Like this happens all the time.
Unlucky coincidences.
And there are lots of things we could say in those moments that are different from what we're going to talk about today.
Maybe this needs a third part, this particular series, Aubrey, but so something else with it just so happens.
It just so happens that my coworker knows someone who can introduce you to that author.
So maybe you're saying, I really love all works by Stephen King.
And I would say, oh, it just so happens my coworker knows someone who can introduce you to that author, to that author.
So maybe you're saying, I really love all works by Stephen King.
And I would say, oh, it just so happens my coworker know someone who can introduce you to that author this happens a lot too right you might happen to have someone in your network that can really help other co -workers or friends and this is a great way to say it just so happens i have the perfect thing
for you yeah side point i think my partner ran into stephen king up in maine a couple summers ago yeah we're pretty sure it was stephen king so he lives in maine and he was on the lake kind of rowing and he just had the whole look that it just it felt like a horror movie in itself in that movie.
Oh, that is amazing.
It'd be like, it just so happens that I saw Stephen King on the log.
Love it. No wonder all the horror movies take place up there.
Right. So anyways, side point.
So coincidentally would be another one, Aubrey.
Another thing we can say to mark this, how do we say it?
Yeah, you might say I decided to wear jeans to work today.
And coincidentally, everyone else at work did too.
So this is, even though coincidentally seems a little more formal, you really can use it in any situation.
It has the same meaning as it just so happens.
Yeah. And I think coincidentally, or just so happens, these feel a little bit more elevated, right?
They feel kind of elevated, good for business, 100%.
Absolutely, yes. Yeah.
Don't forget to hit the follow button, listeners, go ahead and hit that follow button to make sure you get the next episodes of Business English.
Now something to bring it down just a tiny bit and make it a little less formal, more casual, what a coincidence, right?
Yes, we use this as a response when someone has articulated there's a coincidence, or if we see something, we can just be like, yeah, I use it this way all the time.
Yeah, maybe you're about to call someone and they call you or something.
It feels like you're communicating somehow with each other.
What a coincidence.
I was just thinking about calling you.
Or you're thinking about them and they call you.
Weird stuff can happen like that.
for sure what would be our fourth option yeah fourth is as it happens so for example we were just talking about her work on the brown project and as it happens she walked in the door this one is a little more formal i think this is also a little more elevated i agree so we've gone from two elevated
ones to a more casual one back to elevated one so next one need a little help with your spreadsheets as it happens i was an accounting major in college so we're talking to each other and it just so happens or as it happens, I know accounting.
I can help you with that.
Yes. All of these are perfect for business English.
There are more informal ways we say them in everyday conversations like crazy enough, right?
Yes. Crazily enough.
Crazily enough. Yeah.
But all of these are a little more elevated.
They are perfect for everyday work conversations.
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Okay, Aubrey, let's bring these into a little role play.
So here we are former college roommates who lost touch after college and were running into each other at a conference.
Oh, very fun. I'll start.
Oh my gosh. Lindsay, is that you?
Wow. Yeah. Aubrey, what are you doing here?
I come to this conference every year.
Are you working in advertising too?
Like I am. I transitioned over from, from investigative journalism a few years ago.
I was at the New York times for 10 years.
No way. It just so happens that I have a cousin who works at the New York times.
Do you know Marissa gray?
Oh yes. I know her well.
So where are you now i'm working as an ad buyer for companies who want to advertise on b2b podcasts oh nice i worked with a few b2b podcasts last year do you know the sink and scale podcast yes coincidentally i did some consulting work for them last year wow what a coincidence yeah so that last one
i probably wouldn't have snuck in there right it feels a little too much in terms of using mirroring what you've said right at the end i probably wouldn't have used that right we're trying to use them all on a role play to show how exactly come up but you're right if one person says coincidentally you
probably wouldn't immediately say what a coincidence like i know i just said that yeah exactly so just for the purposes of the role play today so every let's go back and see and i think this is a pretty typical scenario you know you went to college with someone you happen to be at the same conference
and then look you know people right when you're catching up all these coincidences crop up and the reason you know that is if you go to linkedin you can see how many mutual connections you have with people it's kind of amazing have you ever done that you just connect with someone on like or even facebook
with like friends of someone and you see all of their friends like friends you have in common like how do they know them that's weird yeah so you know the material is there for these scenarios to crop up so we just need to know what to say yeah yeah so i first said no way it just so happens that i have a cousin who works
at the new york times so this is great you know they you could use any here coincidentally i have a cousin who works at the new york times but this is fun to be able to ask someone if you both know the same person exactly and then we at you know you asked me what i'm doing and then i said i worked with a few
b2b podcasts last year and then i asked you do you know the sink and scale podcast and you said i said coincidentally i did some consulting work for them last year yeah so that's another coincidence because i've worked with them you've worked with them.
What a coincidence, right?
Yeah, good. I love that.
This is great. You can see how they could all come up.
This is perfect for every work conversation.
You don't want to just let it drop.
If there is a coincidence that could create awkwardness or silence, like mention it, highlight it, use this vocabulary for that.
Well, especially, I mean, so in this scenario, if we're college roommates, we could go back to college and start talking about that, but maybe we need to bridge into that somehow.
And the bridge could be talking about people we know in our industries in our overlapping industries right yes right it just so happens that mark got a job at my company right you could use these to talk about what's happening with people you both know love it all right aubrey what's another episode
again well that is the episode that we mentioned at the top so go over and check out part one of this series do you happen to have amazing english vocabulary you can get that on the app or you can just scroll down in your podcast player if go over to allers english yes if you missed it be sure to follow
the others english podcast as well as the business english podcast so many great episodes every week yeah what's our take away what do we think about coincidences yeah you definitely want to take the time to mark a coincidence right mention it highlight it they are fun it brings their color to life
and you want to point them out yeah 100 i totally agree and now our listeners have the vocab to do it so let's go after it.
Yes, absolutely. All right.
You have a good day.
I'll talk to you soon.
See you next time. Bye.
Bye. Thank you for listening to Business English, a podcast just for you, the high achieving global professional.
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