ESL Podcast 412 - Corporate Spying
second thoughts - reconsideration; the feeling that one should change one's mind about something; the feeling that one should not do something as planned
They wanted to go to Hawaii for vacation, but then they found out how much money it would cost and they started to have second thoughts.
corporate spying - the practice of one company learning all that it can about another company (a competitor) without letting that other company know
Do you think Microsoft and Apple pay for corporate spying on each other?
ethically - related to what is right and wrong, or moral and immoral
Ethically speaking, lying is wrong, but sometimes it is necessary.
questionable - subject to question or interpretation; not 100% right or wrong; problematic
The student said that the dog ate her homework, but her teacher thought it was a questionable excuse.
espionage - spying; the practice of sending someone to learn something secretly about another person, organization, or plan
The man had been selling national secrets to his home country for more than 15 years before he was arrested for espionage.
to draw the line at (something) - to say that something is the last thing that one will do; to identify the most extreme thing that is acceptable, showing that one will not do anything worse than that
I'll drive less, eat at home, and stop buying clothes to save money, but I draw the line at looking for things I need in other people's garbage!
to snoop - to spy; to secretly look for information that other people might want to hide, without letting them know that one is looking
Were you snooping in your sister's room, reading her private journal?
to have (one's) back against the wall - to not have any other options; to be left with only one thing that one can do; to be desperate
She didn't want to steal the money, but she had her back against the wall and didn't know how else to get enough money to buy food for her family.
leak - a person or thing that allows secret information to be shared with people who shouldn't know it
There's a leak in the government who is giving information to journalists.
trade secret - secret information about how a business does or makes something, which competitors would like to know
The company's recipe for tomato sauce is a trade secret.
deceptive - deceitful; lying; not telling the whole truth; misleading
That's an example of deceptive advertising. The business is telling people they're getting something for free, but they really have to pay for it.
wiretap - the practice of listening to conversations secretly by using a small, hidden machine that records what is said in a room or on the phone
The embassy is worried that there might be wiretaps in the building.
invasion of privacy - a violation of one's right to keep personal information secret; something that does not respect one's privacy
Rufat thought it was an invasion of privacy when his mother went into his room when he wasn't there.
priority - a level of importance; the order in which something should be done or addressed
Sam's uncle said to him, "As a student, your top priority should be studying. Going to parties should be your lowest priority."
damage control - the practice of minimizing damages or losses, making a bad situation as good as it can be
They lost more than 60% of their money in bad investments before they decided to sell the rest for damage control.
rival - competitor; a person or company whom one is fighting or competing against
Adidas, Reebok, and Nike are rivals in the shoe industry.
to schmooze - to network; to have casual conversations, usually to make a good social contact or to get connected with important people
The party was so boring! There were just a lot of lawyers schmoozing and trying to get new clients.
to scour - to look through many things, trying to find a specific one or a certain detail or piece of information
The police scoured the room, looking for information that would help them learn who had stolen the television.