Review the conversation on Sprint Planning. Then understand the meanings of the idioms and answer questions with them.
Sprint Planning: The Feature That Won’t Behave
Characters:
- Alex: Team Lead
- Ben: Senior Developer
- Chloe: Developer
(The team is in a video conference.)
Alex: Alright team, let’s look at the “Universal User Sync” feature. We’re hitting the last few days of the sprint. Ben, where are we at?
Ben: Honestly, Alex, it’s not panning out like we hoped. The legacy API is a nightmare to integrate with, and the latency is unacceptable. I’ve been trying every workaround, but nothing’s sticking.
Chloe: I agree. I spent four hours debugging that authentication loop yesterday. The spec said it would be straightforward, but clearly, we need to read between the lines of what the Product Owner wrote. The “simple SSO solution” is anything but.
Alex: [Sighs] So, you’re both hinting that maybe it’s time to throw in the towel on this feature for the current sprint?
Ben: I think we have to. We’d have to sacrifice quality just to say we finished it, and that’s not worth the technical debt. We’ve sunk enough time into it. It’s time to pull the plug and move it to the backlog for a full architectural review.
Chloe: That’s the smart move. Plus, I need to talk to Mark from the infrastructure team about the server capacity, but he’s impossible to follow. He just talks a mile a minute and uses so many acronyms, I feel like I’m swimming.
Alex: Yeah, Mark can be a handful. Sometimes he’s super helpful, and other times he acts like he doesn’t have time for us. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he’s two-faced about this whole project.
Ben: [Chuckles] Well, you’re the boss, Alex. I don’t need a wise guy telling me we’re behind schedule; I already know. Let’s reassign the remaining story points.
Alex: Agreed. Let’s update the board. Chloe, can you take the bug fix for the login page? Ben, start reviewing the database migration script. We’ll revisit the User Sync next sprint with a fresh approach.
| Idioms | Definition | Sense | Example |
| out of ______ mind | to be thoughtless or momentarily crazy | neutral–usually humorous | My brother’s out of his mind! He has no money, but he bought a new sports car. |
| pan out | to work out, to become better | neutral to positive | He has been trying to get promoted. I hope his ambitions pan out, and he achieves the career he wants. |
| pull the plug | to end, to terminate; from the idea of pulling out the plug and having the light go off | negative | We had to pull the plug on that project because the early forecasts showed that the company would lose money. |
| read between the lines | to understand the ideas that are not stated, to see the subtle points | neutral to negative | I know that this work contract seems good to you, but you need to read between the lines. To me, it sounds like they will want you to work a lot of overtime without compensation. |
| shell out | to spend money | negative | I love my new house, but I had to shell out $1,000 to the moving company and another $500 to the repair crew. |
| sell for a song | to give a product for little or no money | neutral to negative | His website is fabulous, but he sells it for a song. He should charge a subscriber fee. |
| talk a mile a minute | to talk quickly | neutral | She was so excited–she was talking a mile a minute! He was angry with me, and he was talking a mile a minute. |
| throw in the towel | to give up | neutral to negative | I wanted to run the marathon, but after 3 weeks of training, I had to throw in the towel. My knees were hurting! |
| two-faced | to behave in one way toward one person and in a different (usually opposite) way toward another | negative | I know that John is your friend, but I don’t like him. He’s so two-faced! Even though he’s nice to you, I’m sure he says bad things about you to other people. |
| wise guy | sarcastic (can be a male or female) | neutral | Yeah, very funny. Stop being such a wise guy. |
Questions
1. When was the last time you felt out of your mind?
2. Is there a project or life plan that you hope will pan out?
3. Describe a time when someone (or you) had to pull the plug on a project.
4. If you read a newspaper or internet article, are you good at reading between the lines?
5. When was the last time you had to shell out money unexpectedly?
6. Do you have a talent or small business product that you may need to sell for a song while you build your clientelle?
7. Do you know anyone who talks a mile a minute? If so, describe this person.
8. Have you ever had to throw in the towel?
9. Have you ever known anyone who is two-faced? If so, describe this person.
10, Do you know anyone who is a wise guy?
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