BE 424: Should You Swap Out This Business English Vocabulary?
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This is the Business English Podcast, Episode 424. Should you swap out this Business English vocabulary?

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Open your search bar now and find All Ears English. Hit follow and start speaking the kind of English that opens doors. Listen to the All Ears English podcast five days a week with me, Aubrey, Lindsay, and Michelle. Hey there, Aubrey. What's going on? Oh, not too much. How are you, Lindsay? I'm doing well. Aubrey, I have a question for you. You ready? Yes. So what's the last thing you swapped out?

Hmm. I swapped out the type of cider I drink. I love cider and like a hard cider. And what I used to drink, I discovered a new one called Two Towns. It's out of Oregon and it's delicious. So now I don't buy anything else. I've swapped out my cider and I just drink Two Towns. Really? Yeah.

yeah i've tried cider i can't do it it's too sweet it's sweet i like it really no i don't like i don't like sweet sweet drinks yeah but everyone i don't like beer and you do exactly exactly all right good so i asked you a question i asked you what's the last thing you swapped

out. So that's what we're getting into today. Yeah. Yes. We got a great question about swap and switch and these both will do this and add out for a phrasal verb. So we're going to share because we use this a lot at work as well as in everyday conversations. Yes. Here is the question. This is from Julia. So she says, Hey, I really love the podcast and I listen to it every day. Thank you. Love it. Thank you, Julia. Glad you're listening. Yes.

I'm a little confused about the word swap and switch. All right, swap and switch. They both seem to mean changing stuff, but I'm not sure exactly how they're different. I'm looking forward to your answer. Thanks so much. Best, Julia. Nice. Yes. Thank you for being a loyal listener, Julia. And thank you for this great question.

These are very similar. Sometimes they are interchangeable, but sometimes they do have a different meaning. So I'm excited to dive into this. It's a great question. Very natural question. So guys, don't forget to hit the follow button right here on the Business English podcast. You get three full episodes a week and you won't miss the bonus episodes. Right, Aubrey? Yes, exactly. Right. If you're not following, those bonus episodes won't drop into your feed. So be sure to hit follow right here on Business English.

Awesome. Okay, let's go through swap. It's what I asked you. Well, I asked you the second one. Yeah, we're going to go into that too. But let's first go with swap. Just the regular verb. This means exchange. So two parties are swapping roles or items. And so this is where it's a little different from switch because swap always means that two things will be traded or exchanged.

Yes, exactly. Exactly. So let's swap this contract for the new version. You know, there's going to be a new one coming in. Something's going out, something's coming in. Okay. Exactly. Or I'm going to swap slide three with this one, right? This happens a lot where we're updating a slide deck and we have to swap a slide for a different one. Or there's a TV show called Wife Swap. Oh gosh, I can't imagine that's very

Did you ever hear? This is kind of older. Did you ever watch this or see it? I saw commercials for it, I think. I watched it a couple of times. I was fascinated. It was really interesting. It was a strange show. I don't think they do it anymore. But yeah, it was just like people would trade wives. They would swap wives. So same thing, like one for one trade. And then you would see that, you know, one wife like trying to discipline children that are not theirs and like trying to figure out. And inevitably it was like, how does someone live in this life? I need, they're like, I want my life back.

Yeah, I'm sure they all said that, right? That sounds really hard to do. How do you figure everything out? You have no context for anything, right? Exactly. No, so hard. But we also have swap out, this phrasal verb. It does have the same meaning and they're used pretty interchangeably, but it is slightly less formal as often is with phrasal verbs. But it's interesting how most of the time we use them synonymously, really interchangeably.

Yeah, I love that. So here's some examples in the business context. Let's swap out this contract for the new version. And look, we can do the same thing with the same sentence there. Yeah, exactly. Right. It means the same. It's so subtle how much more informal it is, right? That I wouldn't worry about at all at work as well, whether you say swap or swap out, just use them both pretty interchangeably, wouldn't you say?

Totally, yeah, I love it. Or the next one, we've swapped out pages four and seven of the agreement. So be sure to look over the new language. And these are all good examples for the business context. And then I like how we started the show at the top Aubrey, 'cause often we're having conversations with our colleagues about changes we're making in our lives. Like a lot of people have swapped out

let's see dairy milk for they've exchanged they're not having dairy milk now they're having almond milk or goat milk or something like that these personal changes we make we share those with our colleagues don't we good point right if you see someone is now drinking almond milk you say oh I see that you swapped out you know your your cream for almond milk do you like that better right it's a great thing to spark a conversation about yeah or you might be likely to share that you know to bring up a conversation I've decided to do this instead of this

Very common conversation starter. Okay. Exactly. So now we're going to dive into switch and the main difference here, right? This does mean trade replace exchange. So it can be synonymous with swap, but it can also mean a broader change, like a replacement or a change of state. So it's more versatile. It's not always a one for one exchange like swap and swap out are.

Yeah, love that. Okay, good. So for example, can you switch places with me so I can charge my phone? The outlet is by your seat. So in this case, it is kind of a one-to-one, but it doesn't have to be like you said. Yeah, this is where it is interchangeable. You could say, can you swap seats with me? That does sound a little more informal, but switch places with me means the same thing, right? So here we are exchanging, but it isn't always, right? What about if you say, this isn't working, we need to switch tactics.

This is not like trading one for one. We're just saying we need to make a change. We need to replace what we're doing. It's synonymous with saying we need to change tactics, right? Yes. Exactly. And then we also have switch out. Same thing, right? Replace or exchange.

But this is where it's interesting because these aren't as interchangeable because we're not talking about swapping things. So switch out means swap. You could say we need to switch out these slides with the updated versions, but we could not say we need to switch out tactics.

because that would mean an exchange of one for one trade. And I feel like often with switch out, it's a physical change, right? We need to switch out. This is a more of a everyday life thing, but switch out the outlets or swap out physically placing new ones, old ones with new ones.

Right. Yeah. So what's interesting is the verb switch is more versatile, but then switch out is not right. It's a little more specific to the same meaning as swap and swap out, switch out, swap out. Those are interchangeable. But switch, because it has these other meanings as well. You can't always trade it. You can't. It's not always interchangeable with switch out.

out. Ooh, complicated. All right. Any other examples, Aubrey, that we need to know? Yeah, you might say, "The company is switching out its outdated software with something new and improved." And here, of course, you could also say, "The company is switching its software for something else." This is one where you could also say, "Switch out." But important that the preposition becomes different there. Switching it for something new

or what did you say changing it for something new the company is switching out its outdated software with something new switch with something new or swap out for something new that is a good point yeah it'll be with sometimes it'll be four maybe that's something we'll explore in another episode we'll look more at prepositions right good idea love a good one all right

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The 2025 GMC Sierra lineup featuring the Sierra 1500 heavy duty and EV because true bliss is removing every shadow from every doubt. We are professional grade. Visit GMC.com to learn more. Okay, Aubrey, role play time. So here you are requesting a few changes from your supervisor, me. All right. Yes. All right, let's do it. Okay.

Would I be able to swap desks with Jason since he's switching departments? That should be fine. Do you want to switch to his office or just switch out desks? I'd rather keep my office and just switch desks if that's okay. His has a lot of good storage I could use. Oh, yes. No problem. I'll arrange to have them swapped out. Good.

Nice. Okay, so we've used all of them here. This will be really helpful, I think, to go through this and see which we've chosen and why and what other options we could have had. Love it. So, for example, you started by saying, would I be able to swap desks with Jason since he's switching departments? Okay.

Swap and switch, right? So first, would I be able to swap desks? This means trade. I want to take the desk that he was using, get rid of mine, right? So I could say swap out. Can I swap out desks or can I swap desks? Good. And since he's switching departments, and again, this could also be he's changing departments, right?

He's not necessarily like a one for one. Yeah, which is why we wouldn't say switch out, right? Or swap out. He's not swapping out departments or switching out departments. He's changing them. So that's where switch is a little more flexible. It can also mean change, replace, right? It doesn't have to mean that one for one trade. Love it. And then what did I say? And you said, do you want to switch to his office or just switch out desks?

So this is interesting because you're just saying, do you want to just make that change, switch to his office, or are you wanting to switch out desks, which means that one-for-one trade? Yeah. And that's kind of getting at what I mentioned too, the physical. It's easier to do a one-for-one when it's a physical thing that you're kind of...

This goes here, that goes there. Right? Exactly. Right. That you can even visualize it, right? You're swapping, you're trading the two physical things. Yep, exactly. And then you said, I'd rather keep my office and just switch desks if that's okay. Change desks. Yeah. And this is interesting. You couldn't say switch out desks because then I'm not talking about trading one for one. Right? Right. So I would say instead, just switch desks.

Oh, wow. There's a lot here. Love it. And then I said, yes, no problem. I'll arrange to have them swapped out. Yeah. And this is where you could say swapped, switched, swapped out.

Any of those would work. All right, nice. Aubrey, what's the takeaway for this episode? We've got a lot of similar words here that could trip us up easily, right? Yeah, I can definitely see why this listener was like swap, switch. I don't understand when to use them. Luckily, the good news is most of the time they're very interchangeable. And in spoken conversation, even at work, you may want to be less formal than these other verbs we could use like exchange, trade, right? So you might want to be using swap out, switch out,

And, you know, it's great to build connection by being a little less formal. Yeah. And I think now would be a great time to think about changes that you've made in your life that might make a great side conversation, a relationship building conversation with a colleague, like dietary changes. Did you swap out a kind of oil for another kind of oil? I feel like I'm always trying new things diet wise to have the healthiest diet. That's something you might share with a coworker on a lunch break.

That's such a great idea. Yes. Right. Any kind of updates or changes to a lifestyle for whatever reason, that's going to spark a really interesting conversation. Yes. That is connection right there. So if you spend the time guys thinking about it now, you could bring it up when you're sitting next to your coworker or you'll know what to say when they respond. So good stuff. Absolutely. Yes. Love it. Awesome. Okay. Aubrey, you have a good day. I'll talk to you soon. All right. You too. Thanks, Lindsay. Bye. Bye.

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