Helen: Hello, this is Real English from BBC¹ Learning² English. I’m Helen.

Zoe : 大家好，我是刘佳。地道英语和大家一起学习英语中新出现的流行词汇还有一些新用法。那 Helen, 今天咱们要学的新词是什么呢？

Helen: Today’s new word is hot desk. That’s H.O.T. hot and D.E.S.K. desk. Hot desk.

Zoe : Hot desk. 热的，和桌子加起来指的是什么呢？

Helen: Well, hot desk is a new expression that means³ to share a desk or office space. Workers don’t have their own desks, but share them and use them at different times.

Zoe : 说的就是几个人在不同的时间共用一个桌子，用的人多，桌子可不就热了吗，所以是hot desk。

Helen: Yes. It is more common nowadays. You might say 'we have hot-desking at work to save money.'

Zoe : 这的确是个节约开支的办法，充分发挥了这个桌子的作用。不是单独属于谁，而是大家一起在不同的时间公用。

Insert⁴

A: Is this your desk?

B: No – we have hot-desking here. I work at any desk I want. It’s much more efficient.

Helen: Do you have your own desk?

Zoe : Yes, but I wouldn’t mind hot-desking.

Helen: I wouldn’t like hot-desking. I like to have my things around me, and I don’t like other people moving them!

Zoe : I know what you mean. I like having my personal space as well.

Helen: Still I guess hot-desking is a good idea in some offices.

Zoe : Why?

Helen: Maybe some people are not in the office every day, so it would be better to have hot-desking rather than waste money and space on individual desks.

Zoe : So it could save costs for companies.

Helen: Yes. Anyway, to recap hot desk means to share desks.

Zoe : Hot desk 就是公用的办公桌。That’s it for today.

Helen: Yes, that’s all. You’ve been listening to Real English from BBC Learning English. Join us again soon for more up-to-the-minute Real English. Bye.

Zoe : See you next time.