The English Blog

Grammar for Business

I've just received an email from Cambridge about their new book Grammar for Business. Unfortunately, the email contains a BIG mistake. Can you spot it? (Click on the image to enlarge.)

Yes, it should be booksellers' (with the apostrophe after the s). As written (with the apostrophe before the s), we'd have to assume that the title is only available from one bookseller.

If you're interested (and I hope the book doesn't contain such basic errors), you can download an excerpt or view the table of contents.

Cartoon: On the road to recovery

This cartoon by Christian Adams from The Daily Telegraph shows the Governor of the Bank of England Mervyn King filling a car with petrol. The first five frames of the cartoon are identical except for the increasing amount shown on the petrol pump. In the last frame, King is driving the car but the fuel gauge shows empty.

COMMENTARY
This cartoon is a metaphor for the state of the British economy (helpfully, the car's number plate has the word 'Economy' on it). Despite all the money which the Bank of England has pumped into the economy via the process known as quantitative easing, the UK is still in recession. In fact, King warned yesterday that the UK has "only just started along the road to recovery," [note the motoring metaphor] and it would be 2011 before the economy returns to pre-credit crunch strength. Full story >>

Book: Management Bollocks

Rory Havers is a Scottish author who used to be vice president of Continental Airlines. His new book 'Management Bollocks' features archive images from the last century overlaid with speech bubbles containing examples of management jargon. The results can be quite amusing, as in this example.

READ MORE
• Former airline exec lifts the lid on baffling management-speak

VOCABULARY
1. Bollocks is an impolite word for testicles. If you describe something as bollocks, you think it is a load of rubbish. The Sex Pistols first album was provocatively called "Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols" (and was banned by  Boots, W.H. Smith and Woolworth's).
2. If you say something is not rocket science, you mean that it is easy to understand.
3. If you think outside the box, you eschew conventional solutions and try to come up with original ideas. The box is also a slang word for television, hence the joke.

Words in the News: Bet

The FT says Warren Buffett has struck the biggest deal of his life with the £16bn purchase of US railroad operator Burlington Northern Santa Fe, in what he called an "all-in wager" on America's economic future. Full story >>

VOCABULARY
If you bet on someone or something, you take a risk in the expectation that they will succeed. • Barclays Wealth is betting on small companies in developed countries, exposure to economic growth in Asia, and commodity exporter currencies to preserve and increase wealth for its clients.

Video: How to Ace a Job Interview on Skype

More and more companies are saving travel expenses by doing key job interviews via web cam. This TIME video gives some advice for the interviewee.

READ MORE
• How Skype is changing the job interview

Video: No More Happy Meals for Iceland

Iceland is to lose its three McDonald's outlets after the country's financial crisis made operating there too expensive. The restaurants import almost all of their ingredients, but the collapse of the Icelandic krona has almost doubled import costs. Melanie Wray reports.

READ MORE
• McDonald's pulls out of Iceland (BBC News)
• The Big Mac's Currency Lesson (Wall Street Journal)

COMMENT
A good illustration of how a company which imports its raw materials can be fatally damaged by a change in exchange rates.

Economist Videographic: Luxury Goods

This videographic about luxury goods from Economist.com would be good for teaching the language of trends. You can view (and download) more videographics here.

Video: Pub Lunch For Primary School Kids

Jamie Oliver’s school dinners revolution is difficult for Stoke Bruerne Primary in Towcester, with no canteen. So the headmaster enlisted the help of the village local - and at lunch, all 39 pupils head down to the pub. Sky's Paul Brennan reports.

COMMENT
A good example of a business diversifying in order to survive the downturn.

Words in the News: Fat Cat

The Independent launches a campaign to put an end to fat-cat bonuses in the UK. Full story >>

VOCABULARY
The BNET Business Dictionary gives the following definition for fat cat: "a derogatory term used to describe a chief executive of a large company or organization who secures extremely large pay, pension, and termination packages, often causing concern among shareholders". To that we need to add bankers who pay themselves huge bonuses.

Words in the News: Owe

The Governor of the Bank of England has launched a "stinging attack" on the behaviour of the banking industry, the Independent reports. Full story >>

VOCABULARY
If you owe money to someone, they have lent it to you and you have not yet paid it back. • Bob owes me £10. Alternatively, you could be under a legal obligation to pay money to someone. • Two accountants who worked at Feed The Children say the charity owes $1.1 million to the state of Oklahoma in back taxes on purchases.

FOOTNOTE
The Governor was paraphrasing Sir Winston Churchill, who famously said: "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."

Words in the News: Crush

The Observer reports that Royal Mail is heading for a bitter confrontation with postal workers after announcing plans to recruit an army of 30,000 temporary staff in an attempt to crush the national strike that starts this week. Full story >>

VOCABULARY
To crush a protest or movement, or a group of opponents, means to defeat it completely, usually by force. • The Taliban and Al Qaeda forces must be crushed not just in Afghanistan but in the tribal areas of Pakistan.

Video: Misleading Sales Offers

The Office of Fair Trading is to investigate companies that use potentially misleading tactics to lure customers. SKy's Hannah Thomas-Peter reports.

COMMENT
A good video for use with Business English classes.

Words in the News: Crunch

The Times says that 12 months after the global economy nearly collapsed, investment bankers are enjoying a record bonus season with investment banks in London and New York ready to announce huge profits. Full story >>

VOCABULARY 
Crunch is a shortened version of credit crunch. The latest edition of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary (OED) carries a definition of crunch as "a severe shortage of money or credit". However, crunch and credit crunch are often used more loosely as shorthand for the current global financial crisis. • Before the crunch, the organic sector had been growing steadily year on year – but sales came to a crashing halt when cost-conscious customers began to look for cheaper alternatives.

Words in the News: Loom

The Guardian says Royal Mail has lost its contract with Amazon, its second largest customer, as strikes threaten parcel deliveries in the pre-Christmas period. Full story >>

VOCABULARY 
If a worrying or threatening situation or event is looming, it seems likely to happen soon. • With a midnight Sunday deadline looming, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is refusing to act on hundreds of bills awaiting his signature.

Reuters: Times of Crisis

Reuters has an excellent interactive timeline retracing the key events in the global financial crisis. There's also a moving 11-minute video which looks at the effect of the crisis on people around the world.