We Speak with me, Feifei...

...and me, Roy.

We may sound a little different - that's

because we are not able

to record in our normal studios

during the coronavirus outbreak.

In this programme, we have an

expression that is used to describe

the minimum number of people that are

required to run a business.

Speaking of which, there

are not many people working in

the train stations today.

No, you're right. It's because of

the strikes on the trains.

Ahh, so that's why it was hard

to get a train this morning!

The train companies decided

to run the trains on a skeleton crew!

What!? Skeletons driving the trains?!

Is this some kind of ghost story?

I think I'll walk home!

No, Roy! 'Skeleton crew' refers to the

minimum number of people

needed to run a business

or an organisation.

Ahh yes, and it's usually in times of crisis

or during an emergency,

for example the coronavirus,

that people run businesses

with a skeleton crew.

Exactly, let's listen to these examples...

Due to the financial problems of the

company, the office will be run

with a skeleton crew

for the foreseeable future.

The Covid-19 emergency means

that we will run the buses with

a skeleton crew until further notice.

A skeleton crew will be needed to keep

the park open over the winter months.

This is The English We Speak from BBC

Learning English and we're talking

about the expression

'skeleton crew', which is used to talk

about the minimum number

of people needed to run

a business or an organisation.

I love the expression 'skeleton crew'.

It makes me think of a pirate ship

run by skeletons.

We can also use the words 'skeleton staff'

with the same meaning.

Well, one good thing when there's

a skeleton staff at work is there's

no queue for the cafeteria!

Trust you to think about food!

Well, I'm just glad there aren't real

skeletons working at the BBC.

That's just in horror stories!

Exactly, you don't need worry about

skeletons walking around.

They're not real! It's vampires

you need to worry about! Ha ha ha!

What!?

Bye, Roy.

Bye, Feifei.