Tip 230 ”pecking order” 無料ビジネス英語学習

無料ビジネス英語学習 Words & Phrases 第230弾は、”pecking order” です。

これから重要なミーティングに参加予定のヒカとタロウ。
このミーティングには、上層部の人たちも出席するため2人ともやや緊張気味。
慎重に会議室のセッティングを進めています。

“Where does the most senior person sit? Is it this seat or this seat? ”
「トップの人はどこに座ってもらう?ここかな?それともあっちかな?」

とヒカはタロウに聞きました。

「上下関係で席順を決めたりするルールはうちの会社にはないよ。」
と言いたい場合、あなたがタロウなら英語で何と言いますか?

“Well, Hika, there is no seating rule of senior and junior in our company.”

これでも何とか伝わりますが、ちょっと不自然です。

そこで、

“Well, there’s no pecking order for seating in this company.”

と言ってみましょう!とても自然な表現です。

※peck(くちばしで突く)
ニワトリ社会では、餌をつつく順序にも上下関係がある様子から来ている表現です。

発音もビデオでチェック!

Hey, everyone! Welcome to this Bizmates words and phrases video series and

today's idiom is: pecking order.

Peck is the movement by chickens or birds.

You know, like you see pigeons in the streets and they look for things

on the ground to eat and they go...

this is "to peck," you know. The birds, they don't point, you know; they Peck, okay?

The pecking order...

What does this mean? We'll find out but first let's do our review test.

OK so last time I said, I asked you

You know, what can you find around your neighborhood

left... right and center?

Okay? All over the place. So what can you find your neighborhood? Tell me.

OK time's up.

What did you say? So you could say there are vending machines

left, right and center in my neighborhood. There are karaoke boxes left, right and center.

There are fast food restaurants left,right and center. All over the place.

OK I hope you got that.


Let's go on to today's idiom "pecking order."

OK, now here's what I sometimes hear:

So let's imagine that I'm talking to my colleague, Taro,

and we're having a very important meeting.

And in this meeting, there will be some executives;some important people.

So I'm a little nervous and I asked Taro, my Japanese colleague:

"Where does the most senior person sit? Is it this seat or this seat? "

And Taro says:"Well, Hika there is no seating rule of senior and junior in our company."

Okay, it's a clear answer. I can understand. So I can sit anywhere.

But "there's no seating rule of senior and junior" just doesn't doesn't sound very natural.

So a more natural way to say this is like this...

so I say:Taro, where does the most senior person sit?

And Taro says: "Well, there's no pecking order for seating in this company."

Very natural!

So I can sit anywhere, okay? So "pecking order"

is... it comes... the origin of this idiom comes from like how chickens...

you know chickens, when you give them food,and they all come to you...

apparently,the most... the strongest chicken,

like the leader chicken, eats first and then the next chicken okay?

I don't know I've never given food to chickens but

my image was they all kind of eat at the same time,

but according to some internet sources, it's a fact.

OK, the most, like senior, or the strongest,

chicken gets to eat first.

The "pecking order." The pecking order means kind of like the hierarchy; that seniority.

Okay? Who's the most senior? The next... next... next...

So there's no pecking order for seating in this company.

OK, let's look at pronunciation.

There'sno... There'sno peckin' order

you don't need to say pecking... okay?

Pecking order for seating. There's no pecking order for seating.

You try...

Good! OK, with my question:

Where does the most senior person sit?

Okay, okay great.

And you know you can kind of add "well,..." or

ah there's no... you know, to make it sound a little more natural.

OK for homework next time I will ask you:

Where does the most senior person sit?

and you say... not this...

This.

That's right. There's no pecking order

for seating. Well, there's no pecking order for seating.

Please remember this and we will see you next time.

Thank you.

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