Lesson Introduction
Being late for work is a common problem that we all face. But, telling your boss why you are late is difficult, especially when you have to do it in English. In this podcast, listen in as several people arrive late for a meeting. You’ll learn some great words and phrases to use to apologize for being late, and you’ll also hear a few interesting excuses.

A:   Where is everyone? We were supposed to start fifteen minutes ago!
B:   Jo called and said she'd be here in a sec. She said she got tied up with a client.
C:   Sorry I'm late everyone. There was a huge traffic jam on the highway this morning.
D:   Morning everyone! Were you stuck in traffic as well, Jess? There was a huge pileup on the highway and traffic was backed up for miles.
B:   Scott just called and said that he's running late. His last meeting ran over, but he's on his way now.
A:   Guys, this is not acceptable. If I say the meeting starts at ten, the meeting starts at ten. Not ten-oh-one! And definitely not ten-twenty! All right. Let's get started. So the first thing I want to talk about is our...
E:   I'm really sorry, everyone! I know I'm late. But really, it's not my fault. I was getting a coffee at Starbucks, and the line was way too long. I was waiting for twenty minutes to get my coffee!

backed up  blocked so you can't move forward 
get tied up  became busy; unable to leave 
running late  going to be late  
run over  to go beyond a limit
stuck in traffic  so may cars on the road that you can not drive or move forward  
in a sec  soon  
huge  very big 
traffic jam  a lot of cars stopped from moving
pileup  an accident where many cars crash into each other 
punctual  the quality of always being on time  
behind schedule  later than planed; late   
sleep in  sleep later than planned 
tardiness  the quality of often being late  
hustle  move very quickly

stuck in traffic

► have taken should have taken the other highway. Now we'll be stuck in traffic for at least an hour.
► We should leave early this morning or else we'll get stuck in traffic.
► Hello Daniel? It's me. Listen, I'm gonna be late today because I'm stuck in traffic.

ran over

► Frank always forgets about the time and runs over the time limit of his presentations.
► I always leave an extra fifteen minutes in my schedule just in case meetings run over a bit.
► The meeting ran over by more than thirty minutes.

running late

► I'm running a bit late, so please start without me.
► Traffic is really bad, so I'm running late.
► Jane is running late;she'll be here in ten minutes.

got tied up

► I got tied up in traffic on the way here.
►I was tied up on the phone all afternoon and didn't get any work done.
► Sorry I'm late, honey. I got tied up at the office.

backed up for miles

► The accident backed up traffic for miles!
►Don't take the four-oh-five freeway today. There was an accident so there are cars backed up for miles.
► Our highway system is very inefficient. Traffic is backed up for miles every morning.