Step back from
Today’s expression is “step back from.” It’s very common to use this in the business world, and that is how I used it today. Jeff Bezos is going to step back from his day-to-day duties as CEO of Amazon. That means he’s going to reduce his duties, but not eliminate the entirely. When someone “steps back” from a job or a role, that person is not quitting. Instead, that person is just going to lower the intensity of their work, or reduce their attachment to the role or the company.
Bezos, as you heard, is not going to quit working at Amazon entirely. Instead, he will be “executive chairman.” That means he won’t be a day-to-day Chief Executive Officer. He’ll be on the Board of Directors. However, he’ll be an active member of the Board. He’ll be involved in a lot of the strategic decision-making. He won’t be the CEO, but he will be involved. That’s why we say he’s “stepping back” from his duties as CEO.
You might have stayed in a Marriott hotel before; that is my preferred chain of hotels when I travel. The CEO of Marriott is being treated for cancer, so he stepped back from his day-to-day duties. Unlike with Jeff Bezos, he will, hopefully, continue to be CEO in the future. But while he’s undergoing treatment, he is stepping back from the day-to-day running of the company.
Do you remember when Prince Harry and his wife announced they were “stepping back” from their royal duties? As soon as I heard that phrase, I knew this was carefully negotiated. And it was the perfect term for what, I think, they wanted to communicate. Prince Harry is far, far back in the line of succession. He is never, realistically, going to become King. In light of that, he and his wife were facing a future of having to follow all the rules of the British monarchy without the possibility of his being King. So they decided to step back from their royal duties.
They didn’t say they were quitting the family. They didn’t say they hated Britain and were renouncing their titles—certainly not. In fact , they carried on selling branded merchandise that traded on their status as royals. Their status as members of the Royal family no doubt helps them assimilate in the highest social circles in Los Angeles. So they are not cutting off all ties. But don’t ask them to give a speech at a new hospital or visit the British troops stationed in Africa. No, no: they are “stepping back” from their Royal duties.
You’ve probably seen a Star Wars movie before. George Lucas is the famous creator of these movies. He sold the franchise to Disney in 2012, after the first six movies had come out. He had sketched the outlines of a third trilogy—three more movies—but didn’t want to do the grueling work of creating them. So he decided that it was time to step back from running his movie studio and he sold it to Disney. Disney, of course, still took his calls. George Lucas visited the sets of the movies when they were being filmed. He also collaborated with Disney about the future direction of the franchise. But when he sold his studio to Disney, he stepped back from his primary job of creating those Star Wars movies.
JR’s song of the week
JR’s song of the week is “Mighty Little Man” by Steve Burns. Some of you may have seen “The Big Bang Theory;” in fact, I know from some of your notes that more than a few of you have seen it. There’s an entire series about Sheldon as a younger kid; it’s called “Young Sheldon.” It traces his experiences as a child prodigy in a pretty average home in a nondescript town in Texas. Fun fact about the song, Steve Burns used to host a children’s television show on Nickelodeon; it was aimed at preschoolers and he did that for seven years. So when he came out with his own album of music—like, real, adult music—critics weren’t expecting much. But they liked what they heard. And CBS made one of the songs the theme to Young Sheldon. So that’s this week’s song of the week—”Mighty Little Man” by Steve Burns.
See you next time!
And that is all for today’s lesson. Congratulations for making it to the end. Remember the full lesson continues online at PlainEnglish.com/343. And for you Plain English Plus+ members, remember we have two new types of exercises included in the lessons these days. Preposition practice and vocabulary practice. Knowing the right preposition is sometimes the difference between sounding natural and sounding a little off, so you’ll want to practice those—now every lesson comes with a practice exercise on prepositions. That’s on the exercise page, right alongside the pronunciation, listening, verb tense, and lesson quiz. If you’re not yet a member: what are you waiting for? Just visit Plain English Plus+ to join today.
We’ll be back on Monday—see you then!
Use realistic expressions like a native speaker
