ESL Podcast 604 - Harming a Professional Reputation
gloom and doom - a feeling that nothing good can happen; a feeling that the future will be very bad
Given the current recession, many people spend all of their time talking about gloom and doom.
outrageous - very difficult to believe; unfair; extremely surprising
Who would tell such outrageous stories about you?
on the verge of going under - having a lot of financial problems and almost going out of business
Our store is on the verge of going under, and if sales don't increase soon, we'll have to close the business.
misleading - leading people to incorrect conclusions; making people believe something that isn't true
It's misleading to say that he finished fifth from last, because there were only six people in the race. It would be better to say that he won second place.
outright - completely; entirely; totally
That man is an outright criminal who should spend the rest of his life in jail!
irate - very angry and upset
Donors were irate when they found out that the organization was using their money to have big staff parties instead of to help poor people.
innuendo - an indirect statement that suggests something is true, but without actually stating it clearly
Is that really true that James has been dating three women at once, or is it just innuendo?
to be nothing short of (something) - to be something, used when one wants to emphasize how extreme or inappropriate something is
The kind of behavior you're describing is nothing short of sexual harassment. You should report it to the human resources department.
character assassination - an attack on another person that focuses on who he or she is, or what he or she believes, more than on what he or she has said or done
This political campaign should have been about important social issues, but instead it focused on character assassination.
defamation of character - the practice of writing or saying things that are not true about another person, making other people dislike him or her
If this defamation of character continues, she's probably going to lose all of her clients.
reputation - the way one is viewed or perceived by other people; the good or bad opinion that other people have of oneself
I need to find a mechanic who has a good reputation for providing high-quality service at a low cost.
image - the way that a person or company is viewed or perceived by other people; the general impression that people have of a person or company
The Department of Motor Vehicles is trying to improve its image by providing faster, friendlier service.
retraction - a written statement that appears in a newspaper or magazine to correct an error that was printed in a previous article
Thousands of people read the incorrect information in the article, but unfortunately very few of them will ever read the retraction in which the newspaper corrected the mistake.
no-good - worthless; not having any value; of very poor quality
I wish I'd never bought this no-good car. It's always breaking down.
mudslinger - a person who says bad things about another person to make other people dislike him or her
Who is the mudslinger who's telling all these lies about us?
to neglect - to fail to do something; to not do something that one should have done
They've neglected their yard for years, never mowing or weeding, and now it looks terrible.
slander - a spoken lie about another person; something negative and untrue that one says about another person, usually to make other people dislike that person
How can their company's president say these things about our board of directors? Isn't that slander?