Using English at Work

Lesson 9 - Leaving Work

report, which might be writing a little more text or perhaps formatting the document differently.

I say that I can put those finishing touches on the report on Monday morning before I submit it to my boss. "To submit" here means to turn something in to someone - to give something to someone, usually for them to look at and review. You can submit a job application if you are trying to get a job, or you can submit a drawing in a drawing or art contest to win a prize. Once my report is finished on Monday, I'll need to submit, or give, it to my boss so that he can read it.

Some weeks I have to take work home. "To take work home" means to do work at home, either at night or on the weekends, because you didn't have time to complete it at the office. I don't like taking work home, but sometimes it's necessary if I want to finish a project on time. When I take work home, I have to burn the midnight oil. "To burn the midnight oil" means to work or study very late at night when everyone else is asleep. Most people are sleeping by midnight, but if I am burning the midnight oil, I am working at that time. The expression comes from when lamps had oil in them, and you would light that; the oil would burn so that you would have light.

Fortunately, this week I don't have to take work home and burn the midnight oil. I have everything under control. The phrase "under control" means that something is manageable, or that you can handle or control it. The opposite would be to say that things are "out of control," meaning that you can't handle or manage the situation. When things are out of control, I have to take work home and burn the midnight oil. But this week I have everything under control, so I don't need to work over the weekend.

In order to get ready to go home, I pack up my briefcase. "To pack up" means to put something inside a briefcase, or a suitcase, or perhaps a box so that you can take it with you when you leave a place. If you move to a new apartment or house, you have to pack up everything so that you can move it to the new place. A "briefcase" is a rectangular box, usually with hard sides and a handle that businesspeople traditionally use to carry their work papers. These days, a lot of briefcases also have a place for your laptop computer. We can still call these "briefcases," or some people prefer to call them "computer bags." When I pack up my briefcase, I am putting papers and other things into this small container -this case that I can use to carry things to and from work.

The next thing I do is shut down my computer. "To shut down" a computer means to turn off a computer or to turn off some other large device or machine; we use the same expression, "to shut down." Some offices shut down the copy

71 Using English at Work

Lesson 9 - Leaving Work

machine at the end of the day. After I shut down my computer, I put some important papers back into their folder and leave the folder in my desk drawer for safekeeping. A "desk drawer" is the part of your desk that is a box with a handle on the front so you can pull it open, put things inside, and then close it again. My desk drawers are full of pens, pencils, paper, files, perhaps some paper clips - I need to clean out my desk drawers is what I'm saying! "Safekeeping" means safety, security, or storage in a place where things won't get lost, stolen, or damaged. For example, I may take my wedding ring off when I'm going swimming, and I will put it in my drawer for safe keeping so that it doesn't get lost or stolen. We put our money in the bank for safekeeping, and you probably keep important documents in some place in your house or business for safekeeping; we often put them in a "safe," which is a box, usually a metal box that is locked.

Next, I take the paper and files from my outbox and put them in my coworker's inbox. An "outbox" is a small rectangular container made of metal, plastic, or perhaps wood that sits on the top of your desk and holds papers that need to be given to other people. During the day, as I finish working on papers, I put them in my outbox and then at the end of the day I take those papers and I put them in the inbox of the people who need to see them. In the story, after I do that, I get back to my desk and see that another coworker has emptied her outbox and put some new things into my inbox! The "inbox" is where you put things that you need to work on - it's where other people put things that you need to work on. This, of course, means that I now have more work waiting for me when I come back the following workday.

I like to clear my desk as much as possible at the end of the week. "To clear something" means to organize and remove objects that are on the table. Parents may ask their children to clear their toys from the floor, or to clear their books from the table. Clearing my desk at the end of the week helps me avoid clutter. "Clutter" (clutter) means many small things that are unorganized, not being used, or not where they're supposed to be. The bedroom of a teenager is often full of clutter. I don't like my desk being full of clutter, and that's why I cleared it off, or cleared it, but when I came back there were more papers in my inbox, so I guess everyone else likes to clear their desks to avoid clutter, also!

Finally, I look at my desk one last time to make sure that I haven't left anything behind. "To leave something behind" means to forget to take something when you are leaving a place. When I leave the office on a hot afternoon, I may accidentally leave my jacket behind and then I don't have anything warm to wear on my walk back to work the next day when it's cold in the morning. It's always a good idea to look around and make sure that you haven't left anything behind when you leave a place. This happens to me when I go to a hotel; I always forget