Learn Business English from TV Show Succession
Have you seen the hit HBO tv show Succession? If you wanted Do you know how to use it to learn important business English words and phrases?
It’s about business mogul Logan Roy and his family who own one of the world’s largest media companies. This show is critically acclaimed for its fantastic writing which features lots of the latest, and coolest, business lingo.
Business English- Definition of Lingo:
Lingo means the words and phrases related to a particular subject, profession or activity, and is used only by people who are knowledgeable about it. Lingo can also include slang words and slang phrases which are very important to learn if you want to sound like a native speaker of English.
In this article, I’m going to teach you three words or phrases from hit TV series Succession. Using these phrases, you’ll find yourself speaking like a business mogul, who is fluent in business English, in no time. In order to avoid making embarrassing mistakes at your workplace, you can learn these business English words and how to pronounce them.
Business English Word 1: Optics
The first word is optics /ˈɑːp.tɪks/. In Season 2, episode 10 of the hit tv show Succession, Logan is telling his son Kendall why he should be the new CEO of the family business.
Logan: The optics make sense, and, what’s more, I trust you.
In Succession, they often use the word optics to describe how something will look to the public. When Logan tells Kendall that “the optics make sense”, he’s saying that the public opinion of Kendall becoming the next CEO is generally positive.
The Power of Business English in Creating Moments of Comedy
English practise word 2: IP
The next piece of business English vocabulary that often comes up in Succession is IP /ˈaɪˈpi/. In Season 3, Episode 4, an executive, Tom, talks to his assistant Greg.
Tom: “Greg, what do you know about Nero and Sporus?”
Greg: “Nero and Sporus, I don’t… this is not IP I’m familiar with.”
IP is an acronym for the legal term intellectual property. Intellectual property is any idea, invention, work of fiction, image, product or service. If you are the original creator of one of these things, it belongs to you and is considered your IP. Some IPs that you’re probably familiar with are Star Wars, Harry Potter and The Marvel Cinematic universe. If you have the right to an IP it means that you are the legal owner, and the characters, story or other ideas associated with the IP cannot be used without your permission.
The clip from Succession is funny because Greg thinks that Nero and Sporus are characters from some movie or TV show, and that’s why he refers to them as “IP”.
Greg: “Nero and Sporus, I don’t… this is not IP I’m familiar with.”
In fact, Nero and Sporus are historical figures from the time of the Roman Empire.
Business Jargon Word 3: Detoxify
The last phrase from Succession is detoxify a brand /dɪˈtɑksəˌfaɪ/. In this episode, Kendall tells his sister and brothers about how he believes they can save their company.
Kendall: “Combine all our news operations, become the global news information hub. Amazon is twenty years old, Gates is an old geezer. Detoxify our brand, and we can go supersonic.”
By detoxify, Kendall means clean up the company’s public image. Earlier in the show, their company had several scandals which hurt their reputation. Kendall is telling his siblings that if they want to “go supersonic” meaning do really well in business, they need to get rid of the negative publicity caused by the scandals.
So there you have it; those are three of the coolest pieces of business English terminology from the show Succession that are guaranteed to make you sound like a media mogul.
