ESL Podcast 328 - Dishonesty at Work
to cook the books - to change written numbers illegally, especially financial information, so that they are no longer true
Pilar lost her job when the company found out that she had been cooking the books for years.
to embezzle - to steal money from the company that one works for; to rob money from an organization where one has been trusted with the money
Rachelle had to pay back all of the money that she embezzled from the church.
upstanding - honest and good; respectable
Adrian is an upstanding citizen who always volunteers to help others, votes, and pays his taxes on time.
to stretch the truth - to exaggerate; to tell a small lie
Eric was stretching the truth when he said that he had a perfect GPA, because it's actually 3.90, and a perfect GPA would be 4.00.
dishonest - not honest; untrue; lying
We were shocked to learn that James was so dishonest, lying to us about getting a job.
integrity - the state of being honest, moral and good; doing the right thing
The police department wants to hire people with high integrity.
greed - the desire to have more money, power, and things
His greed destroyed his marriage, because he was more interested in working to earn money than spending time with his family.
best of intentions - a desire to do the right thing; a wish to do something correctly or honestly, although it doesn't actually happen that way
Efram was worried about his wife's health and had the best of intentions when he talked to her about starting to exercise, but she became very angry and upset.
only a matter of time - something that is inevitable; something that will happen no matter what one does
Jan is a very bad driver and it is only a matter of time before she gets into a car accident.
to cover (one's) tracks - to hide what one has done, especially when one has done something wrong; to do something so that other people cannot learn what one has done
The murderer tried to cover his tracks by cleaning up the blood and burying the body.
liar - one who tells lies; one who does not tell the truth; one who is dishonest
Hector is such a liar! He said that he loved only her, but he was actually dating three women!
to catch on - to find out the truth about something; to learn about something
The children tried to hide their report cards, but their parents caught on.
irregularity - something that is unusual; something that is not normal or ordinary, often in a bad way
Becca complained about irregularities in the way that fruits and vegetables were weighed at the market.
to press charges - to take someone to court for something that he/she has done; to ask the legal system to punish someone for doing something
The man decided not to press charges against the boy who broke his window, as long as the boy's family agreed to pay for the new one.
under the circumstances - in this particular situation; considering the specific details of a certain situation
The nuclear physicist took secret papers from the office to his home. Normally he would lose his job for doing that, but, under the circumstances, the company decided to give him a warning instead.
judgment - one's ability to make good decisions; one's ability to evaluate a situation and decide what to do
Ileana showed very poor judgment when she left her keys in the car while she went into the restaurant to pick up her order.
general consensus - agreement among most people; and opinion shared by most people
The general consensus is that stock prices will continue to go up.
to take up a collection - to ask other people to give money to help a certain person, project, or cause
The schoolchildren decided to take up a collection for the people who lost their homes in the earthquake.