Productivity theatre

Transcript

Jiaying
Welcome to The English We Speak with you, Neil…

Neil
…and you Jiaying. And for today’s English phrase, we’re off to the theatre – but not literally.

be off to 장소: (장소)~로 떠나다

Jiaying
‘The show must go on’, ‘all the world’s a stage’ – these are well-known, theatre-related phrases?

The show must go on 쇼는 계속 되어야 한다


Neil
They are – but this phrase is bang up-to-date and describes the act of someone appearing to work hard when in reality they’re not being very productive. We call this productivity theatre.  

bang up-to-date : 최신형

Jiaying
OK, so normally ‘productivity’ relates to the rate at which goods are made, or work is completed. But ‘theatre’ implies the activity is just an act – it’s pretend.

일반적으로 '생산성'은 상품이 만들어지는 속도 또는 작업이 완료되는 속도와 관련이 있습니다. 그러나 '연극'은 활동이 연기일 뿐임을 암시합니다.
pretend : …인 척하다

Neil
Correct. ‘Theatre’ used as an adjective can describe someone’s exaggerated or insincere behaviour. We can call this ‘theatrical’.  So, in the workplace someone may try to look busy by speaking loudly or shuffling lots of paper, but it’s an act – they are performing productivity theatre.

exaggerated 과장된
insincere 진실되지 못한

Jiaying
So, we shouldn’t be fooled – looking busy doesn’t mean you are busy! I think we should hear more about this in these examples…

Examples
She says she hasn’t time to write the report but I know it’s just productivity theatre.

Tidying your desk at work isn’t really being efficient, it’s just productivity theatre!
tidy : 정돈하다

She always claims she has to work late but I know she slinks off when everyone’s gone home – it’s productivity theatre!

slinks off 슬그머니 도망가다

Jiaying
In this The English We Speak programme, we’re hearing about the new phrase ‘productivity theatre’ which describes the act of workers giving the impression of working hard when in reality, they aren’t. It’s all an act! Something you would never do, Neil?

Something you would never do 절대 하지 않을일

Neil
Of course! But I have heard about people who work from home, and while watching TV, they occasionally send an email, so it looks like they're working. A great example of productivity theatre.

Jiaying
I know people who say they are very busy and I see them on their computer doing online shopping!

Neil
Productivity theatre?

Jiaying
Yes, indeed.
네 확실합니다

Neil
Hmm, you know I might give productivity theatre a try, Jiaying.
시도해볼걸 알고 있지

Jiaying
Not before you’ve finished all your work!

Neil
OK. More productivity and less theatre for now. See you next time.

Jiaying
Bye.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/the-english-we-speak_2023/ep-230717

BBC Learning English - The English We Speak / Productivity theatre