VIP Class Notes (Nick)

Vocabulary

Professionalism – acting appropriately at the office and in the way you treat workers and clients
e.g. Lawyers have to take classes on professionalism and professional ethics before they can practice law.
Authority – your ability to tell people what to do and have them do it
e.g. If we question our instructor’s directions, he may think that we are also questioning his authority, and this won’t solve anything for us.

Sarcasm – when you say something you don’t mean, usually to show that someone else is being ridiculous or that they are asking something very obvious
e.g. Christy said that half of the team is going to quit, and I can’t imagine why! (I really do know why, and I’m making a joke about how obvious it is that no one would want to keep dancing with/for this guy)

Person vs. People – “person” is just one; “people” is always about some group
e.g. I’m looking for a person with a blue hat and a red shirt. He said he’d be here around 3.
e.g. There are a lot of people coming (many individuals)
— Even when you have one “people” it still means a group
e.g. The Chinese people

Stair climbing event

Warmup – when you stretch and move to get ready for more intense exercise
e.g. The music outside is for the group warmup before the stair climbing event.

Hold on – I don’t know about other variations of English, but it seems to me that in the US we rarely tell someone directly to wait; instead, I usually use “hold on”
More formal: Could you give me a moment/second? – this is technically a question, so it seems politer

It seems the connection is bad vs. It seems I lost you – the first means that you can hear something, but not well; the second means that you can’t hear anything, or the call actually ended unexpectedly

If you aren’t available for a lunch meeting:
I’m sorry I’m already booked that day / I’m already busy that day / I already have plans  (then suggest another time)
— “Appointment” will sound pretty formal; “date” may sound romantic

In duplicate / in triplicate – two copies, three copies
e.g. The bonus letters must be printed and signed in duplicate, one copy for the employee(s), another for the company.

Pass over – to not choose something, especially when the speaker believes that the thing/person should have been chosen
e.g. My husband was passed over for a promotion even though he’s been at this company for ten years.
— In other situations, where you are giving something from one person to another, you could use “pass over”
e.g. Can you pass the corn over here?

Grammar

He change another dancing teacher – He changed our/the dance teacher

He is not very organized people – not a very organized person

Outside the normal classes – normal hours / class-time

Only pay the rents – rent (for the space) / we only pay the cost (to rent the space)

When the owner send a message – sent

Use on for days, weekends, and dates
e.g. On Tuesday, etc.

Wait for a second – Wait a second
— With a command, leave out “for”

Talking to someone by the phone – by phone
— It doesn’t matter which phone you are using, it’s just to express that you are using a phone as a means of communication. In the same way you could say:
e.g. by letter, by email, by text message

I am worried too much – I was too worried