“Can you fit me in this afternoon?”

English Lesson: Can you fit me in this afternoon?

You need to get your hair done. It's Sunday, and you want to get it done this weekend. You call your hair salon for an appointment. When the receptionist asks when you'd like to make your appointment for, you ask this.

Can you fit me in this afternoon?

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fit (someone) in (to a schedule)

This phrase is useful for scheduling meetings and appointments. When you're talking to someone with a busy schedule, you may have to ask them to "fit you in". "Fitting you in" means fitting you into their schedule. You can imagine a schedule book with each meeting or appointment taking up a block of time. If the person has enough room to add your appointment between two other appointments, then you say that they could "fit you in".

In the example above, the speaker asks the receptionist if they can fit her in, because usually getting a haircut requires you to make an appointment a week or a few days earlier.

The receptionist might answer by saying:

Let me see... I can fit you in from 4:30 to 5:00. Would that work for you?

this afternoon

"This afternoon" means the afternoon of the current day:

We have a meeting this afternoon. Don't be late!

Where were you this afternoon? I tried to call you.

Some English learners say "today's afternoon", but that's incorrect; use "this afternoon" instead.