by choice: not ~ [)baI (tSOIs] nicht freiwillig
chancellor of the exchequer Finanzminister(in)
[)tSA:nsElEr Ev Di Iks(tSekE]UK
cut out: have one’s work ~ for one [)kVt (aUt] alle Hände voll zu tun haben
dull[dVl] träge, langweilig
economic recovery [i:kE)nQmIk ri(kVvEri] konjunkturelle Erholung
envy sb. sth.[(envi] jmdn. um etw. beneiden
highlight sth. [(haIlaIt] etw. hervorheben
iconic [aI(kQnIk] mit Kultstatus
play [pleI] hier: Wortspiel
queue[kju:]UK (Warte-)Schlange
saying [(seIIN] Redensart
set to work on sth. [)set tE (w§:k Qn] sich an etw. heranmachen
unemployment office [)VnIm(plOImEnt )QfIs] Arbeitsamt
voluntary [(vQlEntEri] ehrenamtlich
work experience[)w§:k Ik(spIEriEns]UK hier: Praktikum
work it out [)w§:k It (aUt] eine Lösung finden
work the system das System ausnutzen; hier: auf
[)w§:k DE (sIstEm] Kosten des Staates leben2/2014 http://www.business-spotlight.de 49hard day...”, but then saw that it was
dark and added, “...night!”, creating
the expression “a hard day’s night”.
John Lennon then set to work ona song
of that title to use in the film.Hardly working
Don’t confuse “I work hard” with “I
hardly work”, which means that you
don’t work very hard at all. Young peo-
ple in the eurozone are hardly working,
and mostly not by choice. The average
unemployment rate is around 12 per
cent, but the rate for people under the
age of 25 in Greece, Spain and Portu-
gal is well over 50 per cent.
In the UK, which has an unemploy-
ment rate of around seven per cent, our
Chancellor of the Exchequer George
Osborne says that “Britain’s economic
plan is working”, but that “the job
isn’t done yet”. To finish the job, he’s
going to make young people work even
if they’re not in work. They’ll be madeto do voluntarywork or work experience.
No one is allowed to work the system.Can they work it out?
Osborne’s comment reminded many of
an iconicConservative election poster
from 1979, the year Margaret Thatch-
er came to power. It shows a long
queueof people outside an unemploy-
ment office, with the slogan: “Labour
isn’t working.” It was a clever playon
two meanings of “labour”: “the people
who are available for work” and “the
Labour Party”, which was in govern-
ment. It also played with two meanings
of “work”: “do a job for money” and
“function properly”. At the time, the
UK unemployment rate was under five
per cent. As it’s above that now, Os-
borne still has his work cut outfor him.
That reminds me of another song by
The Beatles: “We can work it out”. But
I’m not so sure that this UK govern-
ment can.Useful expressions
Have you ever thought about the many ex-
pressions in English that include “work”?all work and no play (makes Jack a dull boy)
This sayingsuggests that people who only
work are not interesting. It’s used to tell
people to stop working — or to give a rea-
son why you have stopped:
■Go home, Sam! All work and no play...have one’s work cut out for one
To have a difficult job to do:
■We have our work cut out for us if we
want to finish this project on time.nice work if you can get it
Use this expression to show that you envy
someone’s position and think they got it
without having to work very hard. It’s also
the title of a popular Broadway show with
music by George and Ira Gershwin:
■He tests luxury hotels. Nice work if you
can get it.work all hours
To work most of the time, especially out-
side the normal working hours:
■I’ll work all hours to keep my job.work it/something out
If you can “work it out”, you can find a so-
lution to a difficult problem or situation.
You can use “something” to show that you
are looking for a solution:
■It’s difficult, but we’ll work something out.work like a charm (every time)
To be completely successful. This is often
used to describe a tactic or strategy — and
not a person — that is used to trick some-
one into doing something:
■He agreed to my proposal when I offered
to pay for dinner. It works like a charm
every time.For exercises on the language of
work, see Business Spotlight plusplusDeborah Caprasis deputy editor of Business
Spotlight. You can read her blog, Wise Words,
and do her online language exercises at
http://www.business-spotlight.de/blogs“All work and no pay”
In the news
■BS
This headline from The Economist plays with the common saying“All
work and no play (makes Jack a dullboy)”. In the article, the weekly
newspaper highlightshow low wages in the UK could cause problems
for the country’s economic recovery, as people are working hard but
wages are not increasing as fast as they once did.48-49 Wise words 2_14DD 14.01.14 13:48 Seite 49