This is the business English podcast episode for 23.
Did you quit or resign English euphemisms in the workplace?
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Hey, Lindsey, how are you?
Hey, Michelle, I'm doing great.
What's going on in your world today?
Everything is good here.
Everything is great Lindsay though I know the answer to this question, but I'm gonna ask us anyway, sorry Um, have you ever been let go from a job?
Actually? Yes I think I've told this story on the show before but I was let go from a school I was teaching at in Midtown Manhattan back in right around the recession like almost that same month the recession hit September of 2008 is when I was let go.
Yeah, that's hard. But again, we know that that was the the event that basically start it got you on the path to business ownership.
So that's right. That's right.
So usually we can find a good thing out of a bad thing, right?
Maybe it takes a few years, but we often do.
So, Michelle, today, what are we talking about?
This is going to be an interesting one today.
This is going to be fun.
So we've done a similar episode on Allers English.
But today we're gonna be talking about business one.
So this is we're gonna talk about euphemisms in the business world So Lindsey what is a euphemism?
Let's get started with that.
Yeah, this is really interesting It's a softer way of saying something.
For example, we might say pass away he passed away instead of he died right that die is just a very a very blunt harsh word, a harsh word. And so most of the time we do say passed away as a euphemism so we can avoid the harshness of the word. Yeah, I think that when the furthest, the further you got away from someone, you might use the word die more, right?
You wanna say like, oh, you're sorry your grandpa died, you know, like that might sound a little bit, I mean, you could, but again, this is just softer.
But like if you're talking about maybe a celebrity death, you could say, I can't believe Michael Jackson died.
I don't know that you would be saying, oh, he passed away.
I think it's more about like how close you are, that's my opinion, but you could use either.
But Lindsay, why do you think we use euphemisms in business?
That's what we're talking about today.
That's a really good question.
So, we go one, yeah, it's a great question, Michelle.
We go a little bit.
It becomes, you know, in a business context, we're building relationships, that's what we talk about on this show and we've just said that using a euphemism instead of the direct word is important when it comes to your relationships, not about a famous person that you don't know, it doesn't matter to your life, it's more about the people in your life or the lives of your coworkers.
So that's why, Michelle, to build relationships, to soften the impact, to build trust. Just hit the blow.
Yep, yep, exactly. So we're gonna go through a bunch of these today, but before we do, we wanna remind you to hit follow wherever you're listening to The Business English Podcast, because we don't want you to miss anything from our show.
Yes, I love it. Hit that follow button right now guys.
So now we're gonna give you a number of business euphemisms. I am excited for this, Michelle.
Yes, and we're gonna talk about if the meaning is completely the same or maybe there's a slight difference.
But we're really gonna get into it today, so this is gonna be fun.
So the first one is, Lindsay, I didn't say to you, did you ever get fired from a job?
Right? What did I say?
Right, you said, did you ever get, have you ever been let go from a job?
And if you had said, have you ever been fired?
I mean, you could say that, so don't get us wrong guys, it's not like this word is not functional, you could use it.
It's just it's the more harsh, direct way of asking.
Okay? Mm -hmm. Yes, exactly.
So let go is kind of the nicer way of saying it because fired sounds very harsh I remember when you were a kid when you I think there was a Rugrats episode where like somebody was fired and they thought that it was like they're on fire or I don't know but I And I so I think I thought that I don't know unless I thought that but I saw I don't know money I love it.
It sounds like a like very scary to a kid if they hear oh, I've been fired, right?
Oh, yeah, I could imagine a kid would be really confused by that But I also think let goes a little more ambiguous because let go could technically let me see if you agree with this It could technically mean you did something wrong and therefore you are leaving the job and it could also mean you've been laid off Yep Meaning there's no more budget to pay your paycheck, right?
Like it's it's a bit more of a vague term, right?
I would say like fired is kind of this umbrella Scary term and then there are different Extensions like let go so that could be it could mean a lot of different things, but there's also laid off You know, so there's there's a lot that it could mean but yeah, it's a little bit more ambiguous Yeah, and then the next one instead of saying the word lie, these are scary words fire lie, right?
Um, scary, scary words.
What could we say instead of that?
This person lied. Yeah.
You could say spin the truth, right?
Yeah. So you could say, I'm not saying we should lie.
We should just spin the truth a little.
Yeah. And this can be a slippery slope for sure.
I mean, have you started to hear your coworkers saying this kind of thing.
Make sure you're not working at the next, I don't know.
And Ron or something.
Yeah. Right. Because a spin the truth, I mean it's like, that's like saying, oh it's not an outright lie, it's just not exactly true, but really a lie is a lie, you know, no matter what kind of, I mean even like the little white lies, I mean they're all lies so, but somebody might use this as an excuse I could see like I could see almost like a, like in an evil, we're not gonna lie, we're just spinning the truth.
So, exactly, exactly.
So that is a euphemism for lie.
And then the next one, I feel like I heard this a lot when I was a kid growing up in my town, there was an insurance company that a lot of my friends' parents worked at.
And there were moments in time throughout the time I was growing up where people ended up losing their jobs.
And the word I often heard was restructuring.
The company is restructuring.
And I never knew what that meant.
I mean, are they making, I thought, Are they making a new foundation of the building?
Like, it's very, that's why this is a euphemism.
It is kind of vague, you know?
So, this is a euphemism for, not necessarily one word, but some sort of change in a business and that could involve layoffs, right?
So, saying, you know, instead of saying, Oh, we're running, we're gonna be doing layoffs, you might say, oh well, we're just restructuring.
Yeah, it's like it masks the blow, but in the end people are probably going to lose their job if a company is doing restructuring because it means they are taking the organizational structure, the hierarchy and moving people around.
And some people might become redundant, right?
Yes, yes, yes exactly.
So we are going to be restructuring the sales department, we need to save some money so that you would, we all know what that means, right?
It's kind of funny, it's funny talking about these euphemisms or the direct words and how we felt about them when we were kids when we didn't quite know what they meant.
Yeah it is funny it is funny wait I just realized I don't think we did the example for required or let go oh let's go back and do the example so let's go back to spin the truth here it is oh no oh we did for spin the truth but not gonna let go okay here's let go I'm so sorry but based on your performance we're going to have to let you go yeah going to have to and And that's also a chunk, going to have to let you go.
Yeah, right. We hope to not hear that.
All right. Good stuff.
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All right, Michelle, the next one is resign.
And when I hear, again, another euphemism.
When I hear this word, it feels strange to me because I think of resign as like, if you're in a position of power, like you're in, like you are a politician.
Oh, right. Yeah, the president is resigning.
Right, right, right.
I always find this weird as a euphemism for quitting, but it is, right?
Yeah it is, but when you hear quit, it sounds more like, I'm, I quit, and I'm gonna grab my stuff and march right out of here.
Right, but it's resigned is that softer feel.
I mean a lot of times if you do resign, you have to submit a resignation letter, right, to make it more formal.
Resign to me sounds more like, oh, I resigned because I found a new job.
I mean, it, you know, quit doesn't have to be I'm marching out of the doors, but it sounds more that way to me.
What do you think? I don't know that it signals anything about having something else lined up or not having I see it as essentially the same thing as quit.
So I think it's just simply is just simply a euphemism for the more direct word, which is quit.
Right. So you know, I submitted my letter of resignation last week.
Those kinds, here's a sample sentence, Michelle.
So if you're going to resign, we will just need a written letter signed.
Good yeah, and the companies need that in their documentation.
If you do resign, you do need to resign in writing.
You know, you might do it verbally first or then later follow up in writing.
Yeah, good to know.
Right, and like, for example, we don't call it a quitting letter, right?
it's a resignation.
That would just sound so, whoa!
Okay, so. Direct, yeah it's so interesting how, because we're social beings, right?
We wanna soften things a little bit.
Michelle, which of these is your favorite?
Well, we have one more actually.
Oh, we missed one! Yeah, we missed one.
This one was on All Layers English as well, I think.
So this one is Between Jobs.
Yes. Right? And what is that a euphemism for?
I mean, frankly, it means I'm unemployed.
Right. I'm between jobs.
I'm unemployed. But it is a euphemism because it's very drastic to say I'm unemployed.
It conveys a sense of emergency.
Maybe you're financially struggling.
And we don't always want to convey that even if it's true, we don't want to say it.
We don't want to seem desperate or like people have to help us or something.
Right. Right. Yeah, exactly.
I mean, you could technically be in between jobs if you finished one job and you have little break before your others, before a new job starts if you already have something lined up, but it could also just, so just watch out for that.
It doesn't necessarily mean someone is unemployed but a lot of times it does, right?
Exactly, that's a really good point.
They actually literally could just be between jobs in like a week or two that they decided to take off, right?
Yeah, so it's important to know.
Here's an example. I'm between jobs right now.
I'm kind of enjoying some time to focus on really what I really want for my future.
Nice. So it really depends on what they say next.
Get the context when someone says I'm between jobs.
What do they say next?
Right? Yeah, exactly.
Do they say I'm spending all day applying for jobs?
Then that might be a bit more of an emergency or are they traveling?
Are they doing some deep reflection?
Okay, yeah. My favorite one, I think, is resign.
I think that is just a very clear euphemism, very just a fancy way of putting quit.
What do you think is your favorite one?
I think spin the truth is kind of fun.
I mean I don't condone it, don't get me wrong, but it's kind of funny the way we work with our words.
We do like gymnastics with our words sometimes.
true that's true yeah that's what it is.
And again you know we talked about why these are helpful for business.
These are going to help you connect with people soften the blow.
But, you know, sometimes you might be using a euphemism to hide from something, right?
If you say you're spinning the truth instead of lying.
So make sure that you're using it in a way, I think, you know, it's better to use it in a way to soften the blow rather than to you you know, be hiding.
And the truth. I totally agree, it's all about making sure we stay in connection.
This is a huge connection skill today, Michelle.
Let's do a role play and show our listeners how to do it.
So here we are, co -workers, and we're talking about changes at our company that we're not happy about, okay?
All right, here we go.
Okay. I don't know Lindsay, I just have a feeling that this restructuring isn't going to be good for anyone.
Oh, I totally agree.
I mean, I just hope neither of us gets let go.
Same. Kate said that wouldn't happen, but she might be spinning the truth.
Shelley said she actually just may resign because she doesn't think anything good is going to come from all this.
I wish I could, but Billie is between jobs right now.
So we definitely need the health insurance.
Oh, of course. Yeah, typical conversation, right?
A very common conversation for coworkers, Especially in an uncertain economy, right?
If the economy starts to get a little teetery, right, a little uncertain, you might hear more and more of these conversations, kay?
Exactly, exactly. So, let's go through it.
I said, I don't know, but I just have a feeling that this restructuring isn't going to be good for anyone.
So you imagine I'm, you imagine I'm kinda using their words, right?
Maybe they've said, oh, we're restructuring the company, and so I'm kind of using their word and you can tell that there's some doubt.
Right, you did something with your tone of voice there to show me that you're using their words.
In our role play here, we have it in quotes.
The way you said that was I just have a feeling that this restructuring, and you could even do the quotes visually, isn't going to be good for anyone.
So essentially you're kind of mocking or mimicking what they said, you're giving it a little extra animation there.
Yeah, sure, if that's what they want to call it, restructuring that's fine but we all know, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, for sure.
And that is a classic hallmark of euphemisms. People will kind of change their voice to say they know they're using a euphemism and maybe they're repeating what someone else used to avoid the truth, yeah.
Exactly, exactly, this is very high -level here.
It is, Michelle, it is.
Okay, so then I said, I totally agree.
I mean, I just hope that neither of us gets let go.
so to get let go instead of fired.
Yep. Uh -huh. Instead of fired.
Yep. Yep. Yeah. And then I said, Kate, who I guess is our boss, said that that wouldn't happen, but she might be spinning the truth, so I'm saying she might be lying.
Yeah, we're skeptical here.
We are skeptical. And then you said – Shelly said she actually just may resign because she doesn't think anything good is going to come from this, so that is the euphemism for quit, right?
Yep. And then I said, I wish I could resign, but Billy who you imagine is probably my husband, um, is between jobs right now.
So we need the health insurance.
So you imagine that he, he's unemployed right now.
So he's looking for a job probably.
Um, so I can't leave. Yeah.
The blunt word, the direct word is unemployed, right?
He does not currently have a job, but you don't necessarily want to say it that way.
It would have been.
Yeah, it would've been too much. Yeah, totally.
We kind of if even if we're in a tough situation, maybe it's human nature that we want to hide that at times or something.
Right. Right. Yeah.
Interesting here. Wow.
Very high level. Michelle, what's another high level episode our listener should check out?
All right. Well, we did Episode four.
Twenty one just a couple of days ago was let's talk shop about business English.
If you didn't check that one out yet, Go ahead, head over there after this episode.
Excellent. And where should we leave our listeners today with euphemisms?
Well, euphemisms are funny because sometimes you can be called out for using a euphemism, right, like in my, where I said, oh, restructuring, you know, like you can be kinda called out and people know what you're actually saying, so definitely be careful with them, but at the same time, they can be very helpful to soften the blow and connect.
Yeah, and what's funny though, If you look back at this role play, you were calling out your boss for saying restructuring, but then in the next line, I used another euphemism, right?
So, so this is everywhere.
It's very human to wanna use this.
We are all about human connection at work on this podcast and it all there is English.
And euphemisms are a key way to do that, to maintain the connection, but just know what you're doing, right?
Know what you're doing and be aware of it, right?
That's the key. I love it.
All right, well, that's fun.
Lindsay, I'm glad that we did this episode and guys have a great day.
Alright, hit the follow button guys as you finish up the episode, so you get the next episode of Business English.
Alright Michelle, take care.
Bye, you too. Bye. Thank you for listening to Business English, a podcast just for you, the high achieving global professional.
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