Easy English Expression, rehashed!
Hello, everybody. My name is Coach Shane, and welcome to Easy English Expressions.
Come on, let's master English!
T -G -I -F! Coach Shane here.
It's Friday. For many of you, it's the last working day of the week.
Sometimes you work on Saturdays.
I work every day. But I know when I used to work for a company on Friday, I didn't really want to work.
But you have to show your boss that you're working, even though you're not really working.
And today's expression is kind of tied to that.
It's a great expression that you can use not only at the office, but at home too.
Check it out. Let's go back in time.
today's expression is really excellent busy work busy work b -u -s -y w -o -r -k what are you doing I'm doing busy work my boss gave me busy work my mother always gives me busy work.
Busy work. What is busy work?
It sounds important, right?
But actually, it means the opposite.
Busy work is unimportant work.
It's just work that makes you busy.
So, for example, if you're at your office and you have some work to do, you work really hard and you finish and you have nothing to do, which is an amazing thing.
It happens sometimes.
So in this situation, is it good to just sit at your desk and play Angry Birds, check your Facebook, watch YouTube videos, study English?
Is that okay? Well, it might be okay for you, but your boss might not like it.
So your boss might say, hey, you have no work to do?
I finished my work, boss.
Well, in that case, why don't you count the number of pencils and pens that we have in the office, take an inventory, and tell me if we need any more.
Does that sound like a good job, counting the number of pencils and pens?
Of course not! That is ridiculous!
That, my friends, is busy work.
Let's check out a dialogue.
Ah, my employees have nothing to do.
Give them busy work.
uh like what how about cleaning keyboards oh no that's terrible it might be important or necessary but terrible cleaning keyboards yeah your computer keyboard everybody i'm sure listening to this podcast has a computer keyboard look at your keyboard is it clean now I'm smart my keyboards are black so they look clean but I know I'm not an idiot if you have a white keyboard it probably looks really dirty and I don't know why but most companies seem to have white keyboards and boy they look really dirty and nasty.
Are they easy to clean?
No. It takes a lot of time and it takes your fingernails and is it necessary?
Probably not really completely necessary, but if your boss tells you to clean the keyboards, he's giving you busy work.
Do you like busy work?
What is the worst First busy work that you have ever done.
Are you a boss? Do you give your employees busy work?
Tell us what kinds of busy work tasks do you give your employees?
I want to know. Tell us all.
I'll tell you how to tell us after we listen to the dialogue two more times.
ah my employees have nothing to do give them busy work like what how about cleaning keyboards ah my employees have nothing to do give them busy work like what how about cleaning keyboards boards.
Thanks so much for listening.
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I'm Coach Shane, and together, let's master English.
