BE 390: Get a Feel for These English Expressions
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This is the Business English Podcast, Episode 390. Get a feel for these English expressions.

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 Michelle, coming to you from New York City and Colorado, USA.

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Hey, Lindsay, how are you? Great, Michelle. How are you? How's it going? Good. Good. Thanks. Lindsay, when's the last time you learned something new for work? Oh, learn something new. Oh my gosh. I'm always learning new things. But I can't think of anything specific. I know. Sometimes it's hard to put you on the spot, right? I know. I put you on the spot. That's okay. I'm always learning new marketing things. So...

Yesterday was the last time, Michelle. Okay. Yeah. I mean, do you tend to... Do you remember if you did anything to get a feel for how it worked? Maybe there's something you were specifically learning maybe on the computer or... Yeah. So learning how to mobile optimize different pages, different web pages is something. So even just today, I was learning how to work with the mobile optimization to get a feel for how...

the display would look on mobile versus desktop. So yeah, you just got to try things out, Michelle, try things out. Yeah, definitely. And one thing you guys should try out right now is if you haven't already, you should hit the follow button wherever you're listening to the Business English podcast so you never miss an episode. Love it. So hit follow now, guys. So do you use this expression, Michelle, get a feel for something?

This one is really common, I think. Yeah. But what does it mean? Oh, my gosh. It basically means to begin to understand something, like to get familiar with it. Right? Right, right, right. It doesn't mean you have to know everything, but you're starting to get a sense. Yes.

Yes. Yeah, exactly. All right. So here, let's do some examples. Here's the first one. We just switched our company over to digital records, but I'm still getting a feel for the system. Yes. Or I think my new job, I, sorry, I think, wait, I think I think I like, I think I like my new job, but I'm still just getting a feel for everything.

Yeah. Okay. Or I'm trying to get a feel for how Hadley works. Do you have any insight? Nice. Yeah, I think you're right. I think it is super common.

It's another way of saying trying to understand something, right? Yeah. To me, this is really useful because you're in this in-between space. You're working on something. The wheels are in motion. You're in the process. And so this can really express that type of a feeling. Feeling. Yeah.

And really use it to show that you're working towards something. Now it can be working towards something very specific, learning a system or learning a person or learning how you feel about something. That's interesting too, right? We're going to talk about that a little bit more later in the episode. I love that.

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All right. So let's see. Uh,

things that we're trying to get a feel for right now. I'm trying to think, well, when I visited New York this past weekend, I mean, I know New York, so this might not be the best example, but I was trying to get a feel for how things have changed since the pandemic. I guess that works. Yeah. Trying to get a feel and what was I doing to get a feel for it? I was walking the streets as you do in New York to learn anything, right?

Walking the streets of Chelsea and trying to get a feel for what was different and what was still the same. Right, right, right. And for me, you know, I had a big move this year. And I am more in a suburban situation now. So I'm trying to get a feel for life in the suburbs. And there are things that I...

there are things that I like and there are things that I miss from city life. You know, I would say the number one thing is the grocery situation. I'm always thinking, when can I get to the grocery store when I used to just hop out my door and I lived right next to someone. So I'm trying to get a feel for how my grocery shopping works, you know, how to plan for things. Yeah. Yes. Interesting. Love that. And again, it's like, it's a process. It shows that you're in a process of learning something.

Learning about something. It's not the final piece of information. You're on the road to learning more, right? Right, right, right. So it's almost like there's an expression, the verdict's still out. Mm-hmm.

We could do a whole episode about that, but it's saying we don't know yet. We don't know yet what will be the final opinion, right? From the suburb life or this kind of a system or whatever. Right. The verdict's still out. I also say more often I say the jury's still out, but I guess people do also say that the verdict is still out. Essentially, it means the same thing, right? The jury is deliberating. Right, right. That's true. Interesting. Oh, we should do an episode on courtrooms

Ooh, that would be fun because we did one on accounting expressions. So there's definitely a lot to be done there for our listeners. Love that. Guys, hit follow to catch that episode. So there are other ways to say this, though, Michelle. You don't always have to say, you know, get a feel for something. You could say related things. So, yeah, one thing you could say is to feel something out. Mm-hmm.

Right. So instead of get a feel for something, you could say feel something out. So I want to feel out how much Sheila is open to learning for the new project. Yeah. And what would you do to figure that out? Like, what would that mean exactly in terms that maybe you would drop some questions?

Yeah, right. Right. Yeah, exactly. Maybe I'm going to ask some questions. Maybe I'll maybe I'll take her to lunch and I'll talk about the new project and see if she sounds interested. Right. It's kind of what we do when we interview people, fill someone out. Right. We get a sense of you ask open ended questions like we are working on our business course, our new professional English level one that's coming out in the spring.

And we were talking about why do interviewers ask the question, tell me about yourself. It feels like such a vague, broad, lazy question, but it's actually pretty strategic for them, for the interviewer, because they want to know how you describe yourself. It says a lot about you, how you answer that question.

Doesn't it? Right. Yeah. Well, they're trying to feel you out. They're trying to understand you. Also, another time when you feel someone out is when you're dating, right? You're trying to get a feel for the person. What are they like? Do you like them? Are they nice to waiters and waitresses, right? You're trying to learn about them. Yeah. You kind of need the time in the same space, physical space, just to see how they interact with the world. Another way to do that is to go traveling together.

- Oh, yeah. - We've talked about this on the show, you know, take that before you marry someone, travel internationally with them, right? And see what happens. - Yep, yep.

And then there's also get a sense of. Now, Lindsay, I think you mentioned this one already. So I want to get a sense of how our clients feel about the changes we have been making. Yes, I love that one. Get a sense of. Again, it's not getting the exact answer. It's getting around the answer, getting in the ballpark of the answer. Or get the hang of something. This is more learning something, how to do something. A little bit different. A little different. Let's get the hang of this new software before we move on.

Okay, so just to make sure that's clear, that's learning how to do something and these other ones are learning about someone or something. Okay. Right, right, right. Lindsay, do any of these feel the most natural or common to you? Yeah, I think feel something out is good because this is actually how we gather information. Most of the time, we're not asking direct questions and getting direct answers. We're asking indirect questions or listening more to gather info and then come to a conclusion later on.

Yeah, definitely. So any other thoughts on why this is useful for business? I mean, it's not only getting a feel for something you're learning, like we were talking about, learning about a person, learning if something will be okay with a person, learning how your coworkers think and work. I think it's very important to get a feel for the people you work with.

Yeah, I think the importance of when you're new at a job, feeling out the workplace, listening more than you speak. We've talked about that on this show before. Is this the right place for me? Right? Getting a sense. Is this the right corporate environment? Is this what I want? You have to listen for the cues that are going to be maybe under the surface, not in the direct words people are saying.

Right? Yeah. Very good point. Should we do a role play? We shall, Michelle. We shall. Let's do it. So here you are new at the office and I am showing you around. Perfect. New office situation. Here we go.

I know it feels like a lot, but you'll easily get the hang of things over time. Thanks, Lindsay. Right now, I'm just trying to get a sense of how to get around this building. Oh, it's so confusing. I know. If you want to take a walk with me during lunch, I can help you get a feel for how to find your way. Thanks. I'm still feeling out my new smartwatch, too. Maybe the GPS will help me.

Well, that's an awful scenario. Imagine your first day at work, first week, and you still haven't figured out the building, not to mention the workplace. And then you're like, your worst fear is your coworker is going to find you lost in a corner somewhere. Well, I had to go for something at my son's school and his school is kind of...

big circle and I'm still trying to feel out how to get around. And I had to find the teacher's lounge and I had to ask for directions on the way. And I'm just kind of circling around and it's like, oh God. It's like one circle's okay, but two or three, you start to get a little embarrassed. Is it me? You're like, oh, it's probably me. Right. Exactly. Yeah. They'll say, oh, see, it's just this,

this. And you just say, Oh, yeah. And you have no idea what they're talking. Yeah, they use those trigger words like, Oh, it's just over here. It's just that way. They make it sound so easy. Right? I think we did do an episode on just one. We may do a new one soon. Who knows? We'll see. Yeah. All right, Michelle, let's break this down here. So what did I say first?

You said, I know it feels like a lot, but you'll easily get the hang of things over time. So this is specifically about learning. Okay, good. Yeah. And then I said, and then you said, thanks, Lindsay. Right now, I'm just trying to get a sense of how to get around this building. So it's not even so much as work. It's actually, I just can't get to get to the door of the workplace. Right.

And then you said, if you want to take a walk with me during lunch, I can help you get a feel for how to find your way. Yes. Again, it's not like she's going to sit and lecture you on all the turns to make, but you're going to sense out and get a feel of the layout of the space of the land. Yep. Yeah. And then you said, thanks. I'm still feeling out my new smartwatch too.

maybe the GPS will help. So you just got a new smartwatch and you're trying to kind of make a joke about like, Oh, I'm going to actually need a GPS here. Yeah.

you might who knows who knows right um great what was another episode our listeners could go to right away to keep listening yeah guys check out episode 380 that was accidents happen how to say you made a mistake at work I really like this one because it matters so much what we say we all make mistakes so what are we going to say because that's going to determine our reputation at work how much do people trust us

and how much do they respect our competence, right? - Yeah, yeah, very important. All right, takeaways for today, what do you think? - All right, Michelle, this is all about just really understanding that most of the time we learn things not by being told them, but by figuring them out. We figure them out, we use our senses, our sense of smell, touch, taste,

to figure out what we think of something and what is the geography of something. So we need words to express that. Definitely. All right. Well, that sounds good to me, guys. We hope you gave you a sense of how to use these expressions and try them out in the business world and in your personal life. Go for it. All right. Sounds good, Michelle. I'll see you back here very soon. You have a good day. You too. Bye, Lindsay. Bye.

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