воскресенье, 8 февраля 2015 г.

Let me get straight to the point

You're leading a meeting at work to discuss an important change in your department. You want to immediately start talking about the main topic, without much introduction or small talk. You say this to get the meeting started.
Let me get straight to the point.

"The point" of a conversation is the main idea that a person wants to talk about. In many kinds of conversations, including requests, stories, and discussions, people expect a "point", which is the main idea:

To "get to" the point is to start talking about the main topic that you want to discuss.
If you tell someone to "get to the point", it may sound rude:
A: So, you know, it's, like, well...
B: Hurry up and get to the point!
It's common to include the word "straight":
I like to get straight to the point.

When you see or hear the words "Let me...", you may think that the speaker is asking for permission, but that's not true. This phrase is used in both casual and formal situations to announce what you're going to do:
Let me give you a few examples.

This is more confident-sounding than "I'd like to ___". It's more polite than "I'm going to ___."