🗓️ Idiom: You Are Just a Number (phrase)
💬 Meaning
- Feeling unimportant or replaceable in a company or organization.
- Being treated like a statistic rather than a person.
🧠 Example Sentences
- After years at the large corporation, she felt like she was just a number.
- Many employees complain that in huge organisations they are just a number, not valued individuals.
- Feeling like just a number makes you less motivated.
🏛️ Origin
This expression comes from the practice of identifying employees by numbers rather than by name in large organizations or systems. It has been used since the 20th century to describe workers who feel depersonalized or overlooked.
📝 Practice Exercises
1. Fill in the blank:
In the big company, many workers feel like __________.
Answer
they are just a number
2. Choose the correct option:
What does “you are just a number” mean?
a) You are part of a winning team
b) You are treated as unimportant
c) You are given a new employee ID
Answer
b) You are treated as unimportant
3. Change the sentence using “you are just a number”:
“Many staff feel overlooked because the company is very large.”
Answer
Many staff feel that in the company, they are just a number.
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