Daily English 1236 Dressing Inappropriately for Work

Dialogue/Story

Slow Speed begins at: 1:29
Explanation begins at: 4:16
Normal Speed begins at: 20:23

Complete Transcript

Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 1,236 – Dressing Inappropriately for Work.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode 1,236. I’m your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.

This episode is a dialogue about wearing the right clothes to work. Let’s get started.

[start of dialogue]

Thierry: I know it’s casual Friday, but some people just don’t know how to dress appropriately for work.

Olga: I was thinking the same thing. Look at Sandy. What she’s wearing is far too revealing.

Thierry: I was actually thinking about Jimmy. He’s wearing cutoffs and flip-flops. Where is his professionalism?

Olga: Don’t they know how they’re dressed can affect their careers? Some people can’t see past poor fashion choices.

Thierry: Yeah, so many people are closed-minded and think what people wear reflects their ability.

Olga: I’ve known a lot of people like that. Me? I always err on the side of caution.

Thierry: Is that why you never dress down?

Olga: That’s right. And I’ve noticed you don’t either.

Thierry: No, just because we suspend the dress code one day a week doesn’t mean we have to dress inappropriately.

Olga: True, though both Sandy and Jimmy look really comfortable.

Thierry: Yeah, they do. It must be nice to walk around the office without dress shoes. Maybe, just once, I’ll come to work in shorts next week.

Olga: What?! After everything you’ve said?

Thierry: I was thinking of tasteful shorts, nothing tacky.

Olga: Just remember that it’s a slippery slope, my friend. I hope to never see you here in a tank top!

[end of dialogue]

Thierry says to Olga, “I know it’s casual Friday, but some people just don’t know how to dress appropriately for work.” If something is “casual” (casual), it is not formal. It’s more relaxed. It’s, we could also say, “informal.” Now, in most offices, in most businesses, everyone has to wear good clothing every day of the week. However, some offices have what is called “casual Friday,” meaning that you don’t have to wear, for example, a tie or a suit coat. You can dress more casually. You don’t have to dress, as we would say, “professionally” or formally as you do every other day of the week.

Not all offices do that, but some offices do have this casual Friday policy. Thierry is complaining, however, that even though it’s casual Friday, there are some things that you shouldn’t wear to work. He says, “some people don’t know how to dress appropriately.” “To dress,” as a verb, means to put clothes on your body. The word “dress” is also a noun that refers to what a woman would wear.

A “dress” is usually one piece of clothing that covers both the top and part of the bottom of a woman’s body, but as a verb, “to dress” means simply to put clothing on, and “to dress appropriately” means to dress the way you should dress for a certain situation. If you are going to a wedding, dressing appropriately usually means wearing formal clothing, not your bikini or bathing suit. Although here in Los Angeles, that might be okay. I’m not sure.

Olga says, “I was thinking the same thing,” meaning I agree with you that some people don’t know how to dress appropriately for work. She then says, “Look at Sandy. What she’s wearing is far too revealing.” To describe clothes as “revealing” (revealing) means to say that they show too much of your skin. That adjective is especially used for clothing a woman might wear that is showing too much of her bare skin, although it could be applied to men’s clothing as well.

Thierry says, “I was actually thinking about Jimmy. He’s wearing cutoffs and flip-flops. Where is his professionalism?” “Cutoffs” are shorts that are made by cutting off the legs of pants, especially jeans. The key to “cutoffs” is that when you cut off the bottom of the pant leg, you don’t sew up the bottom of the shorts, or what are now shorts, to make them look nice. So “cutoffs” are very informal. They don’t look very “dressy,” we might say. They don’t look very formal. Of course they are shorts, and so by definition usually shorts are not formal wear.

“Flip-flops” (flip-flops) are basically a very simple kind of sandal, which is something that you wear on your feet. It’s a type of shoe that you wear on your feet that doesn’t have a top on it. That’s what a sandal is. “Flip-flops” are a type of sandal that you would wear to, say, the beach. That’s why Thierry is asking about Jimmy’s “professionalism” – that is, his ability to behave appropriately in a business or professional situation.

Olga continues complaining. She says, “Don’t they know how they’re dressed can affect their careers?” She’s saying that the people who are dressing this way don’t realize that the way you dress can affect how well you do at work and what kind of jobs you can get. Olga says, “Some people can’t see past poor fashion choices.” The expression “to not be able to see past” something means that someone is unable not to notice something even though you are perhaps trying not to notice.

For example, if someone comes to you and asks for a job, and that person doesn’t look like he dressed very well to meet you, or perhaps didn’t comb his hair or shave his face, you – even though you think this might be a good person – might not be able to see past the way the person looks. In other words, you can’t ignore it even though you want to, even though you may think it’s not important the way a person dresses in terms of how he might be able to do a certain job.

Olga is saying that some people won’t be able to look past the way these people are dressed when determining whether they are going to give them jobs. “Fashion” (fashion) refers to the way that clothing is designed, the way it looks. Thierry says, “Yeah, so many people are closed-minded and think what people wear reflects their ability.” Thierry is also complaining about “closed-minded” people. “To be closed-minded” means that you only see your own opinion, or only consider your own ideas, and are not able to consider other people’s ideas.

The opposite of “closed-minded” would be “open-minded.” Thierry is describing closed-minded people as those who think that what people wear “reflects their ability.” “To reflect” (reflect) here means to be related to or to be an indicator of something. If I say, “The way you dress reflects your ability,” I’m saying that the way that you look is an indication of how well you will do a certain job. Now, of course, we may know that that’s not true – unless the job is to be a model, I guess – but nevertheless, people often think that.

Olga says, “I’ve known a lot of people like that” – that is, who are closed-minded. “Me? I always err on the side of caution.” The expression “to err (err) on the side of caution (caution)” means to be very careful to not take any risks. I should mention that that word “err” (err) is now often pronounced – somewhat mistakenly, but now more commonly – as “err,” as though it were spelled (air). In fact, it’s so common that it’s probably considered by most people an acceptable pronunciation in American English.

In British English, however, it is always pronounced “err.” What does “err” mean? it means to make an error. It means to make a mistake. You can see why people pronounce the word “err” (air) instead of “err” (err) because we also have the word “error,” which is pronounced with that “air” sound instead of an “err” sound – but anyway, back to our story.

Thierry says, “Is that why you never dress down?” He’s asking Olga the reason why she never dresses casually. “To dress down” is a two-word phrasal verb meaning to dress casually. Olga says, “That’s right. And I’ve noticed you don’t either.” Olga and Thierry are saying to each other that because other people are closed-minded and might think that the way one dresses reflects one’s abilities, they themselves never dress casually at work, even on casual Friday.

Thierry says, “No, just because we suspend the dress code one day a week doesn’t mean we have to dress inappropriately.” A “dress code” (code) refers to rules about how you are supposed to dress. “To suspend” (suspend) means to stop doing something for a short period of time, to temporarily stop doing something. Olga says, “True, though both Sandy and Jimmy look really comfortable.”

Thierry says, “Yeah, they do. It must be nice to walk around the office without dress shoes.” “Dress shoes” are formal shoes. “Maybe, just once, I’ll come to work in shorts next week.” Thierry and Olga are saying that it is, in fact, more comfortable to dress casually, and perhaps they should do the same thing as everyone else. Olga says, “What?! After everything you’ve said?” She’s surprised that Thierry is thinking of wearing shorts after criticizing other people for wearing shorts.

But Thierry says, “I was thinking of tasteful shorts, nothing tacky.” If something is “tasteful” (tasteful), it shows good judgment. It looks, we might say, “classy” or “refined.” Something is tasteful if it is dignified, appropriate especially for a formal setting. The opposite of tasteful is “tacky” (tacky). “Tacky” is something that shows poor judgment, something that is of, we might say, a low class.

Olga says, “Just remember that it’s a slippery slope, my friend.” A “slippery (slippery) slope (slope)” is a term used to describe a decision or an action that could in the future lead to problems, especially if we are talking about changing the rules or doing some sort of action that may seem small now but would later cause further problems.

An example: if I say to my teenage daughter, if I had a teenage daughter, “You must be home by ten o’clock tonight and you cannot come home later than ten o’clock.” My daughter might say, “Well, Dad, I want to come home at 10:15.” And you say, “Oh, well, okay, 10:15.” You may start going down a slippery slope. My daughter or son might come back to me and say next week, “Well, you said I could come back at 10:15, why not 10:30? It’s only 15 minutes later.”

You see here now the problem – that now that you have allowed her to come back 15 minutes later once, she’s going to start pushing you so that it will be even later, and later, and later. That’s what we would call a “slippery slope.” One small action, one small change in the beginning, can lead to problems in the future. Olga is worried that if Thierry wears shorts next week, it will be a slippery slope – that is, in the future he’ll wear even more casual clothing.

She then ends with a joke. She says, “I hope to never see you here in a tank top.” A “tank (tank) top (top)” is a shirt that doesn’t have any sleeves on it, and usually the shirt has a very narrow piece of, or strip of, material over the shoulders. Both men and women can wear tank tops. Tank tops show the skin of your shoulders and around your neck as well.

Now let’s listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.

[start of dialogue]

Thierry: I know it’s casual Friday, but some people just don’t know how to dress appropriately for work.

Olga: I was thinking the same thing. Look at Sandy. What she’s wearing is far too revealing.

Thierry: I was actually thinking about Jimmy. He’s wearing cutoffs and flip-flops. Where is his professionalism?

Olga: Don’t they know how they’re dressed can affect their careers? Some people can’t see past poor fashion choices.

Thierry: Yeah, so many people are closed-minded and think what people wear reflects their ability.

Olga: I’ve known a lot of people like that. Me? I always err on the side of caution.

Thierry: Is that why you never dress down?

Olga: That’s right. And I’ve noticed you don’t either.

Thierry: No, just because we suspend the dress code one day a week doesn’t mean we have to dress inappropriately.

Olga: True, though both Sandy and Jimmy look really comfortable.

Thierry: Yeah, they do. It must be nice to walk around the office without dress shoes. Maybe, just once, I’ll come to work in shorts next week.

Olga: What?! After everything you’ve said?

Thierry: I was thinking of tasteful shorts, nothing tacky.

Olga: Just remember that it’s a slippery slope, my friend. I hope to never see you here in a tank top!

[end of dialogue]

Our dialogues are always tasteful, thanks to the wonderful work of our wonderful professional scriptwriter, Dr. Lucy Tse.

From Los Angeles, California, I’m Jeff McQuillan. Thank you for listening. Come back and listen to us again right here on ESL Podcast.

Glossary

casual Friday – an office policy that allows employees to wear informal clothes on Fridays in an office where they wear formal clothes on all other workdays

* Usually, the bankers wear suits, but on casual Fridays, they can wear casual pants and button-down shirts or blouses.

to dress appropriately – to meet other people’s expectations about the type of clothing one should wear; to wear clothing that people expect to see in a particular environment or setting

* The tour guide told the tourists that they needed to dress appropriately for visits to certain sites.

revealing – showing a lot of skin; not modest

* She wore a revealing dress with an open back to the awards ceremony.

cutoffs – shorts made by cutting the legs off of pants, especially jeans, and not sewing the ends

* When Kevin was a kid, his mother made cutoffs out of his pants when they were too short for him.

flip-flops – simple sandals with a plastic base and a strap that goes between the big toe and the second toe, often used at the beach

* The floors in public showers are dirty, so I always wear flip-flops at gyms and swimming pools.

professionalism – one’s ability and tendency to meet people’s expectations for behavior and actions in a work or business interaction

* Todd is a good worker, but he often tells inappropriate jokes that make his co-workers question his professionalism.

to not be able to see past (something) – to not be able to ignore or overlook something; to be bothered by something even though one is trying not to notice it

* The expansion would have been very profitable, but it was rejected because the executives couldn’t see past the high initial investment.

fashion – the design and marketing of popular clothing, and the analysis and evaluation of how well people are dressed

* Some fashion designers still think that women want to wear uncomfortably short dresses and painful high-heeled shoes.

closed-minded – not willing to consider or accept other people’s ideas; holding onto one’s own opinion no matter what other people say

* Di’s parents are very closed-minded about her dating men from other cultures.

to reflect – to be an indicator of something else; to be correlated with something

* The falling cost of oil is reflected in lower gas prices.

to err on the side of caution – to be conservative in one’s actions and estimates; to minimize risks by being very careful and cautious; to not take risks

* We probably have enough food for the snowstorm, but let’s err on the side of caution and buy a few more cans of soup and vegetables.

to dress down – to wear clothes that are more casual than what one normally wears

* This is an informal presentation, so you can dress down a little bit, but don’t wear jeans or tennis shoes.

to suspend – to temporarily discontinue; to not have something be applied or used for a period of time

* If drivers get too many tickets, their driver’s license could be suspended.

dress code – rules about the type of clothing people must wear within a particular organization or institution

* The school’s dress code requires that the students never wear t-shirts with offensive text or images.

tasteful – showing good judgement, class, refinement, education, and preferences

* They painted the nursey walls a tasteful pale yellow—not too bright, but appropriate for a young child.

tacky – not tasteful; showing poor judgement, low class, a lack of refinement, little education, and poor choices

* Wearing so much jewelry and makeup to a daytime wedding looks tacky.

slippery slope – a decision or action that leads to additional poor decisions or actions; the start of an increasingly problematic situation

* Lending money to family members can be slippery slope.

tank top – a shirt with no sleeves; a shirt with a narrow strip of material on the shoulders

* Tank tops might be okay at the gym, but they aren’t appropriate in church.

Comprehension Questions

1. Which of these is worn on the feet?
a) Cutoffs
b) Flip-flops
c) Fashion choices
2. What does Olga mean when she says, “I always err on the side of caution”?
a) She doesn’t know very much about fashion.
b) She is fascinated by what other people wear.
c) She is always very careful in her choices.

Answers at bottom.

What Else Does It Mean?

Culture Note

School Dress Codes

In the United States, school dress codes are often “controversial” (with strong opinions on both sides of an issue), especially among students who view clothing as “a means of self-expression” (a way to show others how they really are, how they feel, and how they think). Many private schools require all students to wear a “uniform” (one type of clothing required of all students). Most public schools give students more freedom in selecting their “outfits” (all the clothing and accessories one wears at a single time), but they do have many rules.

For example, most public schools do not allow students to wear “gang” (groups of young people who identify with each other and are often involved in violence when fighting against other groups) symbols, such as colored “bandanas” (a small, square piece of cloth often tied around the head or neck), visible “tattoos” (permanent ink drawn on one’s skin), or jewelry that only gang members use.

Many school dress codes focus on keeping students “adequately” (enough; sufficiently) “covered” (without too much skin showing), so they might “prohibit” (not allow) tank tops or “miniskirts” (very short skirts). Sometimes girls are told to put their arms down at their sides and make sure that their skirt is at least as long as the bottom of their fingertips. Dress codes often prohibit clothing that “exposes” (allows to be seen) underwear, “bra straps” (the thin elastic bands over a woman’s shoulders, keep up one’s bra), and “cleavage” (the line formed between a woman’s breasts).

Some families support school dress codes, saying that they help students focus on learning rather than fashion. But others argue that dress codes are too “restrictive” (with too many limitations) and that they “violate” (break the law or a rule) students’ freedom of expression.

Comprehension Answers

1 - b

2 - c