Hello and welcome to The English
We Speak with me, Feifei...
...and me, Roy.
We may sound a little different - that's
because we are not able
to record in our normal studios
during the coronavirus outbreak.
In this programme, we have an
expression that is used to describe
the minimum number of people that are
required to run a business.
Speaking of which, there
are not many people working in
the train stations today.
No, you're right. It's because of
the strikes on the trains.
Ahh, so that's why it was hard
to get a train this morning!
The train companies decided
to run the trains on a skeleton crew!
What!? Skeletons driving the trains?!
Is this some kind of ghost story?
I think I'll walk home!
No, Roy! 'Skeleton crew' refers to the
minimum number of people
needed to run a business
or an organisation.
Ahh yes, and it's usually in times of crisis
or during an emergency,
for example the coronavirus,
that people run businesses
with a skeleton crew.
Exactly, let's listen to these examples...
Due to the financial problems of the
company, the office will be run
with a skeleton crew
for the foreseeable future.
The Covid-19 emergency means
that we will run the buses with
a skeleton crew until further notice.
A skeleton crew will be needed to keep
the park open over the winter months.
This is The English We Speak from BBC
Learning English and we're talking
about the expression
'skeleton crew', which is used to talk
about the minimum number
of people needed to run
a business or an organisation.
I love the expression 'skeleton crew'.
It makes me think of a pirate ship
run by skeletons.
We can also use the words 'skeleton staff'
with the same meaning.
Well, one good thing when there's
a skeleton staff at work is there's
no queue for the cafeteria!
Trust you to think about food!
Well, I'm just glad there aren't real
skeletons working at the BBC.
That's just in horror stories!
Exactly, you don't need worry about
skeletons walking around.
They're not real! It's vampires
you need to worry about! Ha ha ha!
What!?
Bye, Roy.
Bye, Feifei.