Business English Lesson - Polite words that are useful for angry bosses ( Learn English Vocabulary)

Business English Lesson - Polite words that are useful for angry bosses ( Learn English Vocabulary)

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This business English lesson is about being diplomatic and polite when as a boss or manager you are feeling very angry ! Yes , its difficult to be polite when you are really angry. Imagine you are thinking of voicing your thoughts to an employee , subordinate or co-worker and you are about to be very frank about what you feel; now its advisable to not do so because you might end up hurting their feelings or coming across as too harsh or worse still … you may sound rude . As a boss its your duty to express your opinion without sounding too personal or judgmental . The list of words below are useful as they can be used to convey your frank thoughts politely .

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Incompetent – meaning someone whose work is not up to the mark .This word can be used when an employee is being lazy with regard to his work ; when he is missing deadlines, etc .Instead of calling the person “lazy” .. you can say that their work ethic is “incompetent”.

Unacceptable – meaning inappropriate or intolerable . This word can be used if someone at work is behaving badly .Instead of saying “ This is terrible/bad behavior !” … you can say, “This is unacceptable behavior.”

Impolite – meaning rude .When someone is being outright rude… you can let them know the same by calling their behavior “impolite” instead of rude . It sounds softer and more formal .

Expendable – meaning someone who can be easily replaced. When as a boss/manager you are really angry or annoyed …you cant possibly tell the employee , “If you continue like this .. I might have to fire you !” Instead, take the formal route and say something like , “You current actions or work ethic is making you extremely expendable to the company.” I am sure the message will reach

Irrelevant – meaning not pertaining to the matter /out of context . When someone is talking absolute nonsense , its best to say , “What you are saying , may be irrelevant to that matter at hand.”

Unsound – meaning not sensible. When someone is being stupid or sharing a stupid idea at work or in a meeting ..you could replace the word ‘stupid’ with unsound and say , “I think your theory or idea is unsound.”

Ineffective – meaning not useful /useless. When you feel some one is sharing an idea or making a statement which is utter rubbish ; it best to say that the idea is ineffective.

Unscrupulous – someone who does not do or say the correct thing. When you can sense that someone is not speaking the truth ; you can call the person or his behavior ‘unscrupulous’ instead of calling him a liar to his face ; as it sounds more professional.


Infamous – meaning known or talked about for something negative. When a person’s behavior seems ‘scandalous’ to you … you can tell them that they are infamous for their behaviour instead of saying ,“you scandalize me with your behavior.”