Tip 237 ”neck and neck” 無料ビジネス英語学習

無料ビジネス英語学習 Words & Phrases 第237弾は、”neck and neck” です。

とある競合他社について調査中のヒカとタロウ。

“You know, Taro, are they bigger than we are? Are they a bigger company?”
「あの会社ってさ、うちの会社より大きいのかな？」

とヒカはタロウに聞きました。

「いや、互角じゃない？」

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？

“Yeah, not bigger. Well, we are the same.”

この場合、「同じ規模の会社」ということを強調したいのですが、
“the same”では、同じ業種・同じクオリティ、など色々な意味に捉えられ、
ちょっと曖昧になってしまいます。

そこで、

“Well, we’re neck and neck.”

と言ってみましょう！

競馬で、２頭の馬が首を並べて互角の接戦を繰り広げている様子からきた表現です。

発音もビデオでチェック！
是非この表現を使ってみて下さい。

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

and today's idiom is "neck and neck."

The neck...

OK what does this mean? We'll find out but here's what I sometimes hear:

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

about one of our competitors -- another company --

and I say: You know, Taro, are they bigger than we are? Are they a bigger company?

And Taro says: Yeah, not bigger. Well, we are the same.

Okay. So you know this sentence is okay. He wants to say we're the same size

but "the same" has a really wide meaning.

You know, it could mean we offer the same service,

we're the same quality, we have the same company colors,

we have the same company name...

You know, it has a really wide meaning.

So to be a little bit more specific, in this case.

Taro, can say this -- so I say: So Taro, are they bigger than we are?

And he says: Well, we're neck and neck.

Very natural! Neck and neck.

You know, imagine like a race... you know, a race.

And business is like a race, right?

So our competitor is not bigger. We are not bigger.

We are neck and neck. Okay? Just about the same. Neck and neck.

That's what it means. Great idiom. Okay?

So let's look at pronunciation.

We're neckan neck, okay? We're neckan neck. You try.

Good. Okay with my question: So are they bigger than we are?

Okay, so we have to try harder.

Perfect. OK now for homework I want you to think of a person that you are neck and neck with.

So who are you neck and neck with? Your rival, okay?

So for example, in my case, my youtuber rival is Justin and we are kind of neck and neck.

Actually, no he's more popular but anyway,it doesn't matter.

So what about in your case, do you have a rival in your office? Or, you know,

it could be your English rival, maybe another student who speaks English about the same level as you.

He's not better. You're not better. You guys are neck and neck.

Okay think of an example like that and we'll see you next time.

Thank you.