Jake: Good afternoon, you’ve reached The Tech Company. How can I help?
Sam: Oh, hi! Yes, I was wondering about your opening hours over the holiday period.
Jake: Sure. We’re open normal business hours until Christmas Eve, when we close at lunchtime. We’re closed all day on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
Sam: And what about New Year?
Jake: The same: open tilll unch on New Year’s Eve, then shut on the 1st of January
Sam: And when is lunchtime for you?
Jake: One o’clock, of course!
Sam: Well, I don’t stop for lunch until 2pm… But is it business as usual between Christmas and New Year.
Jake: Oh, yes! Same hours, same service.
Sam: Great! Well, thanks for letting me know. Happy holidays!
Jake: You, too. Enjoy the Christmas break!
NOW LET’S REVIEW THE VOCABULARY!
You’ve reached… (followed by your or your company’s name) is a standard phrase used when answering a telephone call, to confirm who you are.
How can I help? is a polite response when answering the phone at a place of business.
The holiday period often means the Christmas holidays, from 24 December to 2 January. It can also refer to another standard holiday period, like the summer holidays.
Normal business hours for offices in the UK or the US are usually from 8 or 9am until 5 or 6pm, Monday to Friday.
Christmas Eve is 24 December. ‘Eve’ means the evening, day or period before a special day.
In the UK, 26 December is called Boxing Day. It comes from the time of Queen Victoria’s reign. Servants had the day off to spend with their families. They were given a box with gifts and leftover food from their masters, so it became known as Boxing Day.
Again, New Year’s Eve is the day before New Year, so 31 December.
Business as usual is an idiom meaning that there are no changes in the way the business is operating (even if something out of the ordinary is happening at the time).
Happy holidays often refers to the Christmas period. Many people who do not celebrate the Christian holiday do have that time off work, making it an appropriate secular greeting.
A break is a period when you are not working. It can be short (a tea or coffee break, for example) or longer, like a holiday period.
