“Unfortunately, the people who seem to get ahead are the ones who know how to kiss ass the best.”

You're upset because you work hard at your job but don't get much money or respect. The people who get promoted at your company are all very friendly to the boss. You're complaining to a friend:

Unfortunately, the people who seem to get ahead are the ones who know how to kiss ass the best.

Click to read more ...

“Did you have a rough day?”

You're having dinner with your wife. She looks tired and unhappy. You guess that she might have had some problems at work. You ask her:

Did you have a rough day?

Click to read more ...

“My job requires me to put in a lot of late hours.”

You often have to work unti late in the evening. You're telling an acquaintance about this situation. You say:

My job requires me to put in a lot of late hours.

Click to read more ...

“My father was always too absorbed in his work to pay much attention to me.”

You don't get along well with your father. When you were a child, he was a busy executive. You're talking to a therapist about the problems that you have with him. You tell the therapist:

My father was always too absorbed in his work to pay much attention to me.

Click to read more ...

“So were you transferred here, or did you move voluntarily?”

A new person just started working at your office. You've heard that she came there from another branch of the same company on the other side of the country. You've introduced yourself, and now you want to know if she chose to move to your branch or was told to come there. You ask:

So were you transferred here, or did you move voluntarily?

Click to read more ...

“We have access to all kinds of personal information about the patients.”

You work at a doctor's office. You're talking to a member of your extended family about your job. You want to express how serious your responsibilities are at work, so you talk about the information that you are able to see there:

We have access to all kinds of personal information about the patients.

Click to read more ...

“He's just worried about people undermining his authority.”

At work, you sent an email message to someone in the tech support department to get one of your computer programs fixed. The tech support manager sent you back an angry e-mail saying that you are supposed to go through him to get tech support help. You're annoyed that the manager got angry at you for such a small mistake. You're complaining to another coworker about it. You say:

He's just worried about people undermining his authority.

Click to read more ...

“Yeah, he's a real stickler for following the proper chain of command.”

At work, your coworker is complaining because she got yelled at by the manager of the tech support department. She sent an e-mail to one of the tech support staff directly instead of going through the manager. You've been yelled at by this person in the past, so you have some experience dealing with him. But you don't want to say anything too bad about him. So you say:

Yeah, he's a real stickler for following the proper chain of command.

Click to read more ...

“She got tied up at work.”

Your friend invited you and your wife out to dinner. Your wife couldn't come because she suddenly had something important that she had to do at work. You're explaining why your wife didn't come. You say:

She got tied up at work.

Click to read more ...

“So the work we did was all for nothing?”

So the work we did was all for nothing?

Click to read more ...