Using English at Work：59 Socializing with Coworkers(5)

"To bad-mouth (someone)" means¹ to say bad things about another person.

It's never a good idea to bad-mouth someone, because that other person may hear you,

or people that you are talking to might tell that person - especially if that person is your boss!

When Brian starts to grumble² about work and bad-mouth the boss, I'm in no mood to talk about work.

If someone is "in no mood" to do something,

it means that he or she does not want to do something, they're not interested in doing something.

If you feel sick, for example, you probably are in no mood to go outside and play in the snow, or simply to go outside.

I'm in no mood to talk about work, meaning I don't want to talk about work since it's Friday

and it's the beginning of the weekend, so I change the subject.

"To change the subject" means to say or do something that gets people to stop talking about

whatever they're talking about now and begin talking about something else.

If your wife or husband asks you to do something that you don't want to do,

you may change the subject so perhaps they'll forget about it.

That's what I'm doing here; I'm changing the subject so we can talk about something else, not work.

To do that, I ask my coworkers about their plans for the weekend.

Diana says that she's planning to kick back and relax.

"To kick back" means to stop working and start having fun.

I like to kick back after a long day by sitting on my couch³ and watching a baseball game, at least during the summer.

"To kick back" is a somewhat⁴ informal⁵ expression.

In our story, Diana is going to kick back and relax. Rodrigo says that he has a hot date.

A "date" is a romantic⁶ meeting between two people, and a "hot date" is a date with a very attractive⁷ or sexy person.

Unfortunately, not all dates can be hot dates!

1 means   

n.方法，手段，折中点，物质财富

参考例句：

• That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。

2 grumble   

vi.抱怨；咕哝；n.抱怨，牢骚；咕哝，隆隆声

参考例句：

• I don't want to hear another grumble from you.我不愿再听到你的抱怨。
• He could do nothing but grumble over the situation.他除了埋怨局势之外别无他法。

3 couch   

n.睡椅，长沙发椅；vt.表达，隐含

参考例句：

• Lie down on the couch if you're feeling ill.如果你感觉不舒服就躺到沙发上去。
• The rabbIt'sprang from its grassy couch.兔子从草丛中跳出。

4 somewhat   

pron.一些，某物；adv.多少，几分

参考例句：

• The cake we made was somewhat of a failure.我们做的蛋糕不大成功。
• The two office buildings are somewhat alike in appearance.这两座办公楼在外形上有点相似。

5 informal   

adj.非正式的，不拘礼的，通俗的

参考例句：

• I got an informal reception.我受到了非正式接待。
• The leaders met over informal lunches.领袖们在非正式午餐时进行会晤。

6 romantic   

adj.浪漫的，风流的，传奇性的，夸大的，想象的，浪漫派的

参考例句：

• She thinks it will be romantic to be an actress.她认为当个女演员会很浪漫。
• Her husband is very romantic.她丈夫非常浪漫。

7 attractive   

adj.有吸引力的；引起注意的

参考例句：

• Bright colours are attractive to children.鲜艳的颜色对儿童有吸引力。
• The food has an attractive taste.这食品的味道很诱人。