Using English at Work

Lesson 10 - Socializing with Coworkers

in no mood - not wanting to do something; not interested in doing something

* After working for 12 hours without a break, I was in no mood to come home and make dinner, so we went to a restaurant instead.

to change the subject - to say something that gets people to stop talking about the current topic and begin talking about something else

* When the family started to argue about politics, I wanted to change the subject, but I didn't know how to do it.

to kick back - to relax; to stop working and start having fun

* Jen likes to kick back on Friday nights by watching a movie and eating pizza with her roommate.

a hot date - a romantic meeting with someone who is very attractive and sexy

* Brandon went on a hot date last night, so we're all looking forward to hearing about it later today.

to have a good laugh - to laugh loudly and for a long time about something that was very funny; to have a lot of fun

* Everyone had a good laugh when we went to see the new comedy at the movie theater last night.

to kick off - to start something, usually with a ceremony or an event

* Let's kick off our vacation by going surfing when we arrive in Hawaii.

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Using English at Work

Lesson 10 - Socializing with Coworkers

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT

You're listening to ESLPod.com's "Using English at Work" lesson 10. I'm your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan, from the Center for Educational Development.

In the ninth lesson of "Using English at Work," we learned vocabulary related to leaving the office at the end of the day. In this 10^th and final lesson, we're going to talk about socializing with coworkers.

We'll get started by listening to our story first at a slow speed.

[start of script]

When I walk past Van's desk on my way out of the office, I see that he's talking to a group of people. He stops me and asks if I want to go with them to happy hour at the restaurant and bar down the street. It has been a busy week and I need to blow off some steam. On top of that, I don't have any big plans for the evening, so I say, "yes."

Eight of us walk down the street to Steve's Cantina. We find a table in the back of the bar and look at the drinks menu. Happy hour is from 4 to 7 p.m., and the drinks are half price. We order our drinks and I go to get some snacks and appetizers. I look at the food that's available and I see a lot of deep-fried foods and chips and dip, so I load up and go back to the table.

One of the guys, Brian, starts to grumble about work and to bad-mouth the boss. I'm in no mood to talk about work, so I change the subject. I ask everybody what his or her plans are for the weekend. Diana says that she's planning to kick back and relax. Rodrigo said he has a hot date. Van tells us a funny story about the last date he went on that didn't go very well. We have a good laugh over it.

We all have a great time at happy hour and it's a good way to kick off the weekend!

[end of script]

Our final story begins with me walking past Van's desk as I'm leaving the office. I see that he is talking with a group of other people. He stops me as I walk by and asks me if I want to go with them to happy hour at a restaurant and bar down the street. A "happy hour' is a short period of time, usually one, two, perhaps three hours in the late afternoon and weekdays when many bars have drinks and food that costs less than usual. Bars have happy hours to get more customers to