Using English at Work：44 Meeting with the Boss(3)

（单词翻译）

The "regional manager" would be the manager of a certain large area.

For example, if a company sold products to all 50 states in the United States, there might be different regional managers: one for the western region, one for the southern region, and so forth¹.

My boss says that the regional manager is impressed with my work.

"To be impressed with something" means to be very pleased or very happy with something that has happened or with something that another person has done.

Parents are usually very impressed with the things that their children do; even the smallest things, sometimes.

The regional manager is impressed with my work, which means that she likes the work I've been doing.

Next, my boss tells me that the regional manager is considering me for a promotion².

A "promotion" is a move within one company from a less important job to a more important job, usually because someone has done his or her job very well.

A promotion often leads to more money as well.

People get promotions³ from Manager to Director, or from Vice⁴ President to President.

Getting a promotion is usually very good news, unless it's more work with the same amount of pay. Then, not so good news!

My boss says this information is hush⁵-hush. "Hush-hush" is an informal term that means that something is a secret, something that shouldn't be talked about with other people.

"To hush" means to tell someone to be quiet, so "hush-hush" means being quiet about something - not telling anyone else.

You might tell a friend, for example, that you're falling in love with the woman who works next to you, but you ask him to keep it hush-hush because you don't want other people to know - like her boyfriend!

By saying that the information is hush-hush, then, my boss is asking me not to tell other people that I'm being considered for a promotion.

The boss shares this secret information with me because he wants to give me the heads up.