BE 371: Improving Your Business English? What a Coincidence!
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This is the Business English Podcast, Episode 371, Improving Your Business English, What a Coincidence.

Welcome to the Business English podcast from All Ears English. Get the English skills you need to achieve your dreams in global business. For a presentation, a meeting, or your office party, this is Real Business English with your favorite American hosts, Lindsay and Aubrey, coming to you from Arizona and Colorado, USA.

Um, will that be cash or credit? Credit.

Galaxy S25 Ultra, the AI companion that does the heavy lifting so you can do you. Get yours at Samsung.com. Compatible with select apps requires Google Gemini account results may vary based on input check responses for accuracy. Hey, Aubrey, want to grab lunch today? Yeah, I'd love to. I've been hoping to check out that new Thai place. Oh, you mean the one down on 2nd that just opened? Yeah, that's the one. Oh, it just so happens that my uncle owns that place. Seriously?

Yeah, there's usually a line even for lunch, but I bet I can get us in. I'll give them a call. Ooh, nice. You're the right person to know here. Nice. We're getting into the hot new restaurant. Love it. Love it. Okay. We did this little role play so that you could use it just so happens that I say this a lot. Do you say this a lot, Lindsay? I do. I think I

I don't say it as much as you do, but I do mark coincidences when I see them. You know? Yes. There are a lot of ways to do that, right? This is not the only one. Yeah. That's what we're going to get into today in this episode. Do you feel like you experience a lot of coincidences in your life, Aubrey? These kind of weird moments? Yeah. Yeah. And I will. Maybe I'll say like, ooh, that's a coincidence or what a coincidence. I remember when I was a kid, I used to say coinkydink. What a coinkydink. Yeah, me too.

It's like something that kids say, I guess. I actually think it was like kids in the 90s. Maybe. I think it was a trendy thing. I'm not sure. Do kids say that now? Do you have not heard it? No, my kids don't say it. So I think it was a thing from the 90s that might not come back. It's gone the way of the snap bracelet. It's gone the way of the snap bracelet. I love it.

So this is fun today. We are getting into the concept of coincidences, noticing them and naming them in English, especially in the business world. So this is a part two follow up from our episode over on All Ears English on Saturday, February 1st. Do you happen to have amazing English vocabularies?

Aubrey, what should our listeners do to make sure they listen to that one? Yeah, be sure to hit follow over on Allers English as well as Business English. But you can search on the app to find older episodes. Any of those words happen to, you know, vocabulary and those episodes are going to come up so you can check out the old episodes. But that wasn't very long ago. So you could go over and just scroll up on Allers English. Yeah.

And as I was planning that one and all of the different ways to sort of say like happen to this, you know, it just so happens came up and we realized like that actually has a very different meaning. So I'm excited to dive into that today. Yeah, I'm super excited. So let's get into it. What exactly does... I mean, so again, today's episode, the core of it is about these moments where you think, wow, I'm

you know, something lines up with something else. So what is a coincidence? Well, let's go to the dictionary, Aubrey, and see what is a coincidence according to Oxford. What does Oxford say? Oxford says a remarkable concurrence, I love that word, of events or circumstances without apparent causal connection. So just two things that happen that seem totally unrelated, and yet like there's something that they really have in common.

yeah exactly and when i was looking for examples of this online i found out that john adams and thomas jefferson both died on july 4th 1826 which is exactly 50 years after the declaration of independence was written oh that is a coincidence it's not like they died together or due to each other dying no

it's just a coincidence it's one of those unrelated just happened to happen on the same day interesting exactly or you know life events for example there are a lot of people who survive 9 11 because they missed their flight that day or their train connection to the airport they missed it or they were late leaving the house there are these moments where there are these huge events in life and

and we were supposed to be somewhere, but we weren't somewhere. - Yeah, and so maybe it was just a lucky coincidence. Some people will bring in maybe religion or fate or something bigger where they think something's more at play and others believe it's just a coincidence. - Yeah, you're right. And that's, ooh, this could lead to

big conversation and connection topics for our listeners. If you do want to go in that direction, if something like that happened to you, if you happen to not be at a place where there was some kind of big event, big tragedy, what does that mean to you? What is the message that you take away? Right? Yeah. And it's interesting because we will use it for big things like that. And also something super tiny. If you show up at a party and you're both wearing a green sweater, what a coincidence. We're both wearing a green sweater.

Or, you know, the whole scenario, which is so typical, you go to Europe and of course you run into your next door neighbor on their Italy vacation. Right. Totally. And this does happen. Crazy coincidences are like, what? It really does. And if you think about it, you're like, maybe it's not that much of a coincidence because Italy is a very common place for Americans to vacation. It's the most common week of the summer for vacations, but it feels like a coincidence and it is to us in that moment.

Why is it important to be able to communicate that a coincidence has happened? There are a few reasons. First of all, coincidences can feel like magic, like something that's so crazy and it would almost be strange to not comment on it. If you're both there, you're realizing there's this huge coincidence and neither of you says anything, that would be strange. Yeah. Now I can't get the word coinkydink out of my head, Aubrey. Thank you for that. I love that. You're going to start saying it.

Oh my God. Yeah. So it's fun. As you're saying, it's magical. It's fun. And this is the good stuff in life where we can stop. I mean, we're so busy. We're going here, going there. Appointments work. Why don't we stop and enjoy these weird moments, colorful moments that happen?

So it can also bring connection, right? Brings us together. Yes, it is a fun connection moment. So you should comment on it. You should say something. You can both have kind of a laugh because it will, you have something in common now that you didn't have 10 minutes ago. So highlight it. Yeah.

Exactly. And then maybe later you could refer back to it, the fact that that happened, if it's especially unique or interesting. I mean, same thing in business, because our philosophy here is that business is about relationships. We bring our whole selves to work. So you can just as easily have a coincidence happen and reflect on that at work with someone at work as you can in life.

okay yes it's a great way to build rapport to build those relationships whether it's with a business partner collaborators co-workers if there's a coincidence talk about it bring it up yeah and how do we do that Aubrey let's dive into our phrases now for our listeners to exactly how do we reflect on it so what would be the first way we could say it yeah the first one is the one we used at the top of the episode it just so happens that so for example I might say it just so happens that

person sitting next to me at this keynote speech is my childhood best friend's father. So weird. Good example. And this thing tends to happen. This type of situation tends to happen on airplanes too.

You know, it'll happen. You're next door neighbor's brother. You happen to be sitting next to them, but it kind of makes sense because you're heading back to your city, right? Or if you get an argument in the airport with someone, it's likely that that person's going to end up sitting next to you on the phone, right? Coincidences like this happen all the time. Unlucky coincidences. And there are lots of things we could say in those moments that are different from what we're going to talk about today. Maybe this needs a third part.

this particular series, Aubrey. But so something else with it just so happens, it just so happens that my coworker knows someone who can introduce you to that author. So maybe you're saying, I really love all works by Stephen King. And I would say, oh, it just so happens my coworker knows someone who can introduce you to that author. Yes.

this happens a lot too right you might happen to have someone in your network that can really help other co-workers or friends and this is a great way to say it just so happens i have the perfect thing for you yeah side point i think my partner ran into stephen king up in maine a couple summers ago yeah we're pretty sure it was stephen king so he lives in maine and he was on the lake kind of rowing and he just had the whole look that it just it felt like a horror movie in itself

Oh, that is amazing. It just so happens that I saw Stephen King on the lake. You know, yeah. Love it. No wonder all the horror movies take place up there. So anyway, side point. So coincidentally would be another one, Aubrey. Another thing we can say to mark this. How do we say it?

Yeah, you might say, "I decided to wear jeans to work today and coincidentally everyone else at work did too." So this is, even though coincidentally seems a little more formal, you really can use it in any situation. It has the same meaning as "it just so happens." Yeah, and I think coincidentally or it just so happens, these feel a little bit more elevated.

Right. They feel kind of elevated. Good for business. 100%. Absolutely. Yes. Yeah. Don't forget to hit the follow button. Listeners, go ahead and hit that follow button to make sure you get the next episodes of Business English. Now, something to bring it down just a tiny bit and make it a little less formal, more casual. What a coincidence.

right yes we use this as a response when someone has you know articulated there's a coincidence or if we see something we could just be like what a coincidence and then we could point out what it is that is right happening right yeah for example what a coincidence i was just about to call you and you walked right through the door

Yeah. I use it this way all the time. Yeah. Maybe you're about to call someone and they call you or something. It feels like you're communicating somehow with each other. What a coincidence. I was just thinking about calling you. Or you're thinking about them and they call you. Weird stuff can happen like that. For sure.

What would be our fourth option? Yeah, fourth is as it happens. So for example, we were just talking about her work on the Brown Project and as it happens, she walked in the door. This one is a little more formal. I think this is also a little more elevated. I agree. So we've gone from two elevated ones to a more casual one back to elevated one. So next one, need a little help with your spreadsheets? As it happens, I was an accounting major in college.

So we're talking to each other and it just so happens or as it happens, I know accounting. I can help you with that. Yes. All of these are perfect for business English. There are more informal ways we say them in everyday conversations like crazy enough, right? Yes. Crazily enough. Crazily enough. Yeah. But all of these are a little more elevated. They are perfect for everyday work conversations. 100%.

As an adult professional, you're good at your job. You know what you're doing. In fact, you sound confident when you talk about your job in English.

However, in conversations with coworkers about daily topics and informal chats with clients on the phone, you struggle. This is the English you need to truly express yourself in any situation. On the All Ears English podcast, you'll learn natural vocabulary, impressive grammar, and connection strategies to be prepared for any English conversation. Search now for All Ears English wherever you listen to podcasts and hit

follow. You'll hear me, Lindsay, and Michelle five days a week. Come hang out with us on the All Ears English podcast. Okay, Aubrey, let's bring these into a little role play. So here we are former college roommates who lost touch after college and were running into each other at a conference. Oh, very fun. I'll start. Oh my gosh, Lindsay, is that you? Wow. Yeah. Aubrey, what are you doing here?

I come to this conference every year. Are you working in advertising too? Well, I am. I transitioned over from investigative journalism a few years ago. I was at the New York Times for 10 years. No way. It just so happens that I have a cousin who works at the New York Times. Do you know Marissa Gray? Oh, yes. I know her well. So where are you now? I'm working as an ad buyer for companies who want to advertise on B2B podcasts.

Oh, nice. I worked with a few B2B podcasts last year. Do you know the Sync and Scale podcast? Yes. Coincidentally, I did some consulting work for them last year.

Wow. What a coincidence. Yeah. So that last one, I probably wouldn't have snuck in there, right? It feels a little too much in terms of using, mirroring what you've said, right? At the end, I probably wouldn't have used that. Right. We're trying to use them all in a role play to show how they come up. But you're right. If one person says coincidentally, you probably wouldn't immediately say, what a coincidence. Like, I know I just said that. Yeah, exactly. So just for the purposes of the role play today. So Aubrey, let's go back

and see and i think this is a pretty typical scenario you know you went to college with someone you happen to be at the same conference and then look you know people right and you're catching up all these coincidences crop up and the reason you know that is if you go to linkedin you can see how many mutual connections you have with people it's kind of amazing have you ever done that you just connect with someone on linkedin or even facebook with like friends of someone and you see all of their friends like friends you have in common like how do they know them that's a weird yeah

So, you know, the material is there for these scenarios to crop up. So we just need to know what to say. Yeah. Yeah. So I first said, no way. It just so happens that I have a cousin who works at the New York Times. So this is great. You know, you could use any here. Coincidentally, I have a cousin who works at the New York Times. But this is fun to be able to ask someone if you both know the same person.

mm-hmm exactly and then we you know you asked me what I'm doing and then I said I worked with a few B2B podcasts last year and then I asked you do you know the sync and scale podcast and you said I said coincidentally I did some consulting work for them last year yeah so that's another coincidence because I've worked with them you've worked with them what a coincidence right

Yeah, good. I love that. This is great. You can see how they could all come up. This is perfect for every work conversation. You don't want to just let it drop. If there is a coincidence that could create awkwardness or silence, like mention it, highlight it, use this vocabulary for that.

Well, especially, I mean, so in this scenario, if we're college roommates, we could go back to college and start talking about that, but maybe we need to bridge into that somehow. And the bridge could be talking about people we know in our industries, in our overlapping industries, right? Yes, right. It just so happens that Mark got a job at my company, right? You could use these to talk about what's happening with people you both know.

Love it. All right, Aubrey, what's another episode again? Well, that is the episode that we mentioned at the top. So go over and check out part one of this series. Do you happen to have amazing English vocabulary? You can get that on the app or you can just scroll down in your podcast player if you go over to Allers English. Yes. If you missed it, be sure to follow the Allers English podcast as well as the Business English podcast. So many great episodes every week.

Yeah. What's our takeaway? What do we think about coincidences? Yeah. You definitely want to take the time to mark a coincidence, right? Mention it, highlight it. They are fun. It brings color to life and you want to point them out. Yeah. A hundred percent. I totally agree. And now our listeners have the vocab to do it. So let's go after it. All right. Yes, absolutely. All right. You have a good day. I'll talk to you soon. See you next time. Bye. Bye.

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