JiayingHello, and welcome to The English We Speak. I’m Jiaying…
Rob… and hello it’s me, Rob. Hey, Jiaying, I’m so looking forward to your party!
Jiaying Well, errr…
Rob You know - food, drink, dancing – I cannot wait for it…
Jiaying Err, Rob – didn’t you get the message? I’ve had to push back on the party.
Rob Push back? You’re moving the location?
Jiaying No! I mean delay it. If you ‘push back’ on something, it means you delay it until a later time. So, my party is happening later.
Rob Oh right – so it’s starting later – about eight o’clock?
Jiaying No, I’ve had to push back by weeks. So for now, I’ve postponed it – postpone is another way of saying ‘delay until later’.
Rob Oh dear, I was really looking forward to a night out. Have you pushed back on listening to the examples as well?
Jiaying No, here they are…
Examples We’ve got to push back on the deadline for the project. There’s still lots of work to be done.
I pushed back on answering his marriage proposal - I’m still not sure if he’s the right man for me!
I’ve got such a busy day today; can we push back the meeting until next week please?
JiayingYou’re listening to The English We Speak from BBC Learning English, and we’re talking about the expression ‘push back’, which means to delay or postpone something until later. Sorry about delaying my party, Rob. It’s just not the best time to do it.
RobWell, I guess it can’t be helped – how about having it the next day?
JiayingDon’t be so pushy! ‘Pushy’ means to be very determined to get what you want. I’ll let you know when I have a new date for the party, OK?
Rob OK! At least I’ll save some money.
Jiaying Why’s that?
Rob I can push back on buying you a present now! Bye bye.
Jiaying Bye, Rob.