Summary
Episode Transcript
They wanted to knock it out of the park, but instead they kinda dropped the ball. Meta just unveiled their new Ray-Ban smart glasses — and let’s just say the live demo didn’t exactly go as planned.
🎙️ Intro
I’m Grant with Phrasal Verb News, the show where you learn real English through real stories — and walk away with something interesting to talk about with your colleagues. First I’ll break down the story, then explain the phrasal verbs with examples, y también les voy a dar una breve explicación en español para que todo quede más claro.
🕶️ Story
Meta held an event to unveil their new $800 Ray-Ban smart glasses. On paper, they sound amazing: music, messages, calls, maps, video recording, live captions and translations. You can control it all with voice commands or a neural wristband that senses your movements and lets you interact with the display. Pretty cool, right?
Here’s the problem. During the live demo, the glasses failed not once but twice — first when Zuckerberg tried to answer a video call, and then in a cooking demo where the AI skipped steps and ignored commands. Luckily, Zuckerberg was able to roll with the punches, stay calm, and keep going.
Now, plenty of tech companies pre-record their demos so everything looks perfect. So in a way, I respect Meta for doing it live. Hopefully, they can iron out the bugs and come back with a product that really lives up to the hype.
📚 Vocabulary
1. Knock it out of the park
- Meaning: To do something extremely well.
- Story example: Meta was hoping to knock it out of the park with these glasses.
- Business example: She knocked it out of the park with her presentation.
- Spanish: Hacer algo de manera excelente / destacarse.
- Ejemplo: Su discurso fue tan bueno que realmente se destaco
- Practice question: When was the last time you knocked it out of the park at work?
2. Drop the ball
- Meaning: To make a mistake or fail at something important.
- Story example: Instead, the technology dropped the ball during the demo.
- Business example: The team dropped the ball by missing the deadline.
- Spanish: Meter la pata / fallar en algo importante.
- Ejemplo: La empresa metió la pata con el lanzamiento del producto.
- Practice question: Can you think of a time when you or your team dropped the ball?
3. Roll with the punches
- Meaning: To adapt and keep going when things go wrong.
- Story example: Zuckerberg rolled with the punches after the glitches.
- Business example: In business, you need to roll with the punches when plans change.
- Spanish: Adaptarse / seguir adelante pese a los problemas.
- Ejemplo: Tuvimos problemas técnicos, pero supimos adaptarnos.
- Practice question: Do you usually roll with the punches, or do setbacks stress you out?
4. Iron out the bugs
- Meaning: To fix problems in a system or process.
- Story example: Hopefully Meta can iron out the bugs before launch.
- Business example: The software still has issues, but they’re working to iron out the bugs.
- Spanish: Resolver problemas / ajustar detalles.
- Ejemplo: Necesitamos resolver los problemas del nuevo sistema antes de presentarlo.
- Practice question: Have you ever had to iron out the bugs in a project before presenting it?
🎙️ Conclusion
So to wrap it up: Meta wanted to knock it out of the park, but the demo dropped the ball. Zuckerberg rolled with the punches and brushed it off, and now the company has to iron out the bugs before these glasses are ready for the real world.
Gracias por escuchar — I’m Grant with Phrasal Verb News. See you in the next episode for more English and more stories.