Hello everyone and welcome to E-com Business Idiom 50,
where we'll go over 50 common idioms used in the business place.
All of the explanations are in English, but don't worry, listen carefully
and try to imagine what the idioms might mean.
It may take a while, but hang in there and try hard.
Is everyone ready? Let's begin.
Today's idiom is: burn one's bridges.
Burn one's bridges.
Alright, so let's imagine you're standing here and there's a bridge connecting you to your old company, okay?
But, you quit the company and you burned the bridge, so there is no connection, no chance to go back.
You burned your bridges.
Alright, let's imagine this burning bridge and listen to some examples.
I know I burned some bridges by quitting without giving notice, but I just could not work there another day.
Yeah, they'll definitely never hire you back, but it's not like you want to work there again anyway.
No way, they had no respect for their employees and the pay was horrible.
Wow, I can't believe you lasted there for as long as you did.
Okay, so he quit the job all of a sudden, no notice, means he burned his bridges.
He can't go back.
Alright, let's listen to another example.
In the middle of the interview I realized I was not really interested in the job they had to offer.
So what did you do?
Well, I didn't want to burn any bridges, so I told her politely I was not interested in that particular job,
but I would love to be contacted about future opportunities at the firm.
You handled that very well, I'm sure the recruiter will contact you again.
Alright, so he wasn't interested in the job, but he was very polite to say it.
He didn't burn his bridges.
Okay, so to 'burn your bridges' means to kind of eliminate any possible future relationship.
Maybe you had a friend or a co-worker that you cut the relationship in a very bad way,
so you have no chance to have a good relationship in the future.
Alright, so be careful!
I hope you don't burn any bridges with any English teachers or anything like that
and I'll see you next time!