Feifei

Hello and welcome to Authentic Real English. I'm Feifei and with me is Rob。

Rob

Hello everyone. Hi Feifei, how are you?

Feifei

I'm very well, Rob, thank you. 今天我们要学习哪个新潮短语?

Rob

Well, I'd like to introduce the phrase 'to hot-desk' and the idea behind hot-desking in modern offices。

Feifei

I know this one, Rob. To hot-desk 或者也可以说成 hot-desking 是一种越来越流行的办公方式。这种办公方式最大的好处就是节省空间，对吧。

Rob

Yes, not like before where everyone had their own desk, in a hot-desking office there are certain number of desks and computers available for people to use, and anyone who needs them can use them。

Feifei

不像以往的办公室里，每人都有自己固定的办公桌、电脑等等;在一个 hot-desking 办公室里会备有办公桌和电脑，但都不固定专门给某人使用，谁需要谁就可以用。This way, companies can save space by reducing the overall number of desks it needs to provide because not everyone is at work every day。

Rob

Yes, throughout the year, there are always people on leave, away from the office or off sick. It's more common to see hot-desking in big organisations。

Feifei

其实一年到头，总会有休假的、出差的或病了的同事，如果每人一个桌子确实有时候会有些浪费。不过目前大多数采用“无固定办公桌”办公方式的都是些大的公司和企业。

Rob

Let's hear some examples of people talking about hot-desking。

Examples

BBC New Broadcasting House is a hot-desking environment. People just sit wherever there is a free computer。

Hot desks should be kept clean and tidy at all times because you don't know who will use them next。

Many modern office workers are expected to hot-desk。

Rob

So we heard people using 'hot desk' in three different ways。

Feifei

Yes. 大家要注意 hot-desking 是名词，hot-desk 是动词。

Rob

When you write 'to hot-desk', don't forget 'hot' and 'desk' needs to be hyphenated。

Feifei

还要注意在书写的时候，动词 hot-desk 和它的名词形式 hot-desking 之间有一个连字符;而用来 hot-desk 的桌子在书写时则不用连字符 hot desk。

Rob

OK, I think that's enough 'hot-desking' for now。

Feifei

Oh wait, Rob. I haven't got a desk today, I need to go and find a hot desk! Bye!

Rob

Good luck! Bye bye。