実践ビジネス英語 Wednesday, September 5
1) Lyons and Collins discuss Umemura's trip to see H&B brand ambassadors at work at two Ohio universities. Collins says she intended the trip as a learning experience for Umemura and an opportunity to get feedback for the company, and asks Lyons to listen to Umemura's findings with her. Umemura comes to make his report and says he only recently learned what a brand ambassador was.
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Brand Ambassadors in Action (1)
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2) send someone out into the trenches: In the military, a "trench" is a long ditch made in the ground to hide and protect soldiers. The image of fighting in dirt, you know, means this word is often used to refer to places where tough day-to-day work and struggle takes place there, the front lines if you will. For example, "He labored in the trenches for ten years before being promoted to management."
3) It's also common to say "back to the trenches" meaning back to work. After lunch, with a colleague, I might say, "Well, it's almost one o'clock. 'Back to the trenches.'"
4) in action: Collins sent Umemura to see brand ambassadors working, functioning in other words. High school students might visit the Diet to see politicians "in action," or a laboratory to see science "in action."
5) cut off: "Cut off" has a number of meanings. Collins means people in the Manhattan office can be blocked or isolated from the real world, like mountain villages are "cut off" by snowstorms sometimes. "Cut off" can also mean to interrupt someone or something to stop it from continuing. For example, "Mary tried to explain why she was late, but her boss 'cut her off'. He stopped her."
6) field trip: This is a trip made to some location for firsthand observation, study. It's especially common regarding student trips outside the regular classroom. My middle and high school classes went on "field trips" to art and science museums, for example.
7) lowdown: The inside facts, the truth, Collins is saying. A travel website might give users the "lowdown" on different hotels, for example. Tell them how good their locations and services actually are.
8) take on: There are many ways to use "take." Here, it's a noun, meaning someone's assessment of something, their point of view on it. For example, "What's your 'take on' the free trade agreement? Do you think it will help Japan's economy or harm it?"
9) expand: Explain further, give more information, more detail, Collins means. You might say something like, "At our last meeting, you mentioned the possibility of a joint venture. Could you 'expand' on that point?"
10) What do you make of it?: This is a very common expression meaning "What's your opinion about the nature or meaning of something?" For example, "What do you make of the sales increase last quarter?. Does it mean our business is turning around or was it just a temporary improvement?"
