Summer is winding down, and so is intern season – with more than four million joining U.S. businesses this year, according to University of Wisconsin research.

To generalize, interns bring with them new ideas, a passion for learning, and in some instances, an entirely new language. Overheard in BCG corridors this summer were statements like:

“I accidentally deleted my entire Excel model and said, ‘I’m about to crash out.’ My team thought I meant I needed a nap – I meant emotional collapse.”

“I described a presentation by saying the speaker ‘ate.’ My manager thought I was talking about lunch.”

Confused? These quotes sum up a growing truth in the modern workplace: We’re all speaking English, and still routinely misunderstand each other.

Today’s corporate environment is multilingual in the most ironic ways. Five generations, four communications platforms, and 27 Slack channels later, we’re navigating a new kind of challenge: English-to-English translation. Fortunately, two of BCG Chicago’s Gen-Z interns, Sindhu Tiwari and William Neff, are here to help with a handy guide.