Using English at Work：47 Meeting with the Boss(6)（在线收听）

A "standout" (one word) is something that is the best, better than anything else.

You might be a standout on the soccer team you play on; you score more goals or points than anyone else.

You are the best player - you're a standout.

Apparently the boss and the regional manager think that my work is a standout,

because they're offering the promotion to me instead of to my poor coworkers.

Even though I don't think of myself as a corporate climber and I don't think that my work is a standout,

I thank my boss, of course, and shake hands with him.

"To shake hands" with someone means you turn to the other person, you put out your usually right hand (in the United States),

you hold the other person's right hand, and you move your arm up and down.

In the U.S., we often shake hands when we meet someone for the first time and when we say goodbye, especially in a business situation.

We also want to shake hands, or sometimes do shake hands, when we agree on something.

In fact, we have an expression "Let's shake on it," meaning let's shake hands as a way of showing that we are agreeing to something,

we are coming to an official agreement.

After shaking my boss's hand, I then leave his office.

It's nice to get a pat on the back from the boss.

"To get a pat (pat) on the back" from someone means to receive praise from another person,

or to have another person say nice things about something you've done.

When someone thanks you for what you did, especially at work, you are getting a pat on the back.

This is an expression that doesn't mean the person actually touches your back; "to pat" something means to touch it, usually lightly.

You can literally - actually - go up to someone and pat them on the back; that's a way of congratulating or thanking them,

but the expression is just used to mean you are getting praise, you are getting appreciation.

I say that I hope the promotion does "come through," or happen, but I don't want to jump the gun.

"To jump the gun" means to do, think, or say something too early, before it is actually happened.