実践ビジネス英語 Thursday, December 27
1) Collins says two small incidents put her in a bad mood one morning, which made her act rudely toward others and affected her work performance. Pearson says people are susceptible to that kind of influence, which is why the company is going to try short transition sessions at the start of the day to make sure everyone is in a positive frame of mind. He adds that H&B managers are also being asked to let employees socialize briefly before starting work.
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Money and Happiness (5)
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2) put someone in a foul mood: Collins is using "foul" to mean very bad, you know, unpleasant. This is actually one of my favorite words. If I have really bad coffee, I often say, "Oh, this coffee is 'foul.'"
3) "Foul something up" is another common term. It means to mess something up. For example, I always call the tech guys in my office immediately when I "foul up my computer." I'll just make it worse if I try to fix it.
4) snap at: This is to speak curtly and angrily to someone. Let's say I'm in a bad mood and I find someone sitting in my chair at work. I might "snap," "Do you mind if I sit down?" Of course, that's just an example. I would never ever be so rude.
5) That's not like you. = That's uncharacteristic of you.
6) it wasn't your day: Basically we use this when it's a bad day for someone when things don't go well for them. We also say "one of those days," which means the same thing. Let's say I forget my cellphone one day. I accidentally erase an important file on my computer and I snap at a coworker because I'm upset. When I got home, I would probably say, "Oh, man! It was 'one of those days' today."
7) my emotions get the better of me: In this case, "get the better of" and also "get the best of" mean that some emotion or other factor gets control of us and dictates our behavior. You might say, "Sam's fear 'got the best of him.' His voice was shaking all through his speech." Or "Her anger 'got the better of her' and she yelled at her supervisor."
8) don't beat yourself up over it: This expression uses the image of physically hitting ourselves to mean don't criticize yourself too harshly. Don't feel too bad about something. You could say, "She's been beating herself up all week for missing the deadline."
9) Don't feel too guilty about it. Don't feel too bad about it. とも言う。
10) we're only human: In other words, no one's perfect. We all make mistakes. A famous saying using "human" is "to err is human, to forgive divine. In other words, everybody makes mistakes so we should be understanding of that. I once saw a sign in the United States that parodied this. It read, "To err is human, to forgive is not our policy."
11) We're only human. = No one's perfect. = No one's infallible = Everybody makes mistakes.
12) be psyched up: When someone "is psyched up," they are in the right frame of mind for some endeavor. I've known people who "psych themselves up" before a presentation by listening to inspiring music. Or saying to themselves, "I can do it. I'm ready. I feel good."
13) give someone time and space: "Giving someone time" is a pretty clear expression. We also talk about giving people space. In other words, "not pressuring them too much," "letting" them work things out." Imagine a coworker is thinking about quitting. We might have opinions on the subject but decide to "give them some space" to think about it. Hold back, not put too much pressure on them.
14) start the day off on the right foot: To "start off on the right foot" or "get off on the right foot" means to make a good beginning. We use it with human relations too. If a coworker and I clashed at the beginning of our relationship, I might say, "Susan and I didn't 'get off on the right foot.'" Or "Susan and I 'got off on the wrong foot.'"
15) get up on the wrong side of the bed = get out of the wrong side of the bed
