English vocabulary: pointer

Posted on August 21, 2006
Filed under 2-minute English, Intermediate, Listening, Vocabulary | 2 Comments

 
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Transcript

Welcome to 2-minute English — real-life authentic examples that teach you business English vocabulary, slang, idioms, and more! All in just two minutes a day.

Today’s word is "pointer."

Many of my students ask me for advice and pointers about how to improve their English.

Pointer

Meaning
A pointer is useful piece of advice about something. Pointers are often short and simple. Synonyms for pointer include “tip” and “bit of advice”

Examples

Could you give me a few pointers about how to set up my spam filter in Outlook?

Julie asked her boss for some pointers about dealing with difficult customers.

Pointer

Authentic example

Today’s authentic example comes from CNN:

[Mark Horstman] has co-founded a free web site called Manager Tools (http://www.manager-tools.com) that offers down-to-earth, step-by-step pointers on what he calls “the blocking and tackling of management: how to coach, how to give feedback, how to run meetings, how to interview job applicants.” It’s a great resource for anyone seeking specific, detailed guidance — refreshingly free of buzzwords — on these and many other aspects of being a boss.

That’s all for 2-minute English for today. We’ll see you next time!

Look up pointer in the dictionary!

See how the word pointer is used.

life insurance
home insurance
online mortgages
compare products

2 Comments

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Comments

2 Responses to “English vocabulary: pointer”

  1. visitor on October 16th, 2006 22:27

    The mp3 is unavailable.

    BTW: Excellent work

  2. Lori on October 17th, 2006 00:30

    Thanks for letting me know about the bad link. I had to move the mp3s to a different server because this site is using far more bandwidth than I ever anticipated. I had mistyped the link in this post. As soon as I get some rest (I’m just in from my trip to Mexico) I’ll make sure to check them all.

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