Idioms in Business English

7/24/2019 Idioms in Business English

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that stock but I

didn$t! Then it

went up to ten

times its original

value! I really

missed the boaton that one!

+and on your

feet

to be successful or lucky especially

after a period of not having success or

luck

"he,s really landed

on her feet with

this new -ob Take the bull by

the horns

to take control of a dicult situation If you don,t take

the bull by the

horns and ask

your boss for a

raise you,ll never

get one!

Think out of thebox

to think freely +et,s think outsidethe box for a

minute and try to

nd a better

solution!Water under the

bridge

problems that someone has had in the

past that they no longer worry about

.es we did have

our disagreements

but that,s water

under the bridge

now!/aise the bar To raise the standards of 0uality that are

expected of or re0uired for something!

1ust as I was

gettingaccustomed to my

-ob the manager

raised the bar and

I had to perform

even better!2old your

horses

used to tell someone to stop and

consider carefully their decision or

opinion about something

1ust hold your

horses (ill3 +et,s

think about this

for a moment! 1ump the gun to do something before it should be done 2e shouted at me

before I had time

to explain but

later he

apologised for

-umping the gun!4rop the ball to fail to keep working to reach a goal 5ublic schools

have pretty much

dropped the ball

on arts education!"tay on your

toes

alert and aware .ou have to be on

your toes if you

want to be in this

business! I have to



stay on my toes to

keep from getting

red!6eep the ball

rolling

to cause something that is in progress to continue. Tom started the

pro-ect and we

kept the ballrolling! Whowill

keep the ball

rolling now that

she is gone7"tay ahead of

the curve

head of the times; ahead of schedule We need to stay

ahead of the curve

if we are to stay in

business!5lay it by ear o act according to the circumstances; improvise I don,t have a set

schedule so we,ll

have to play it byear!

Iron out a few

bugs

resolve computer malfunctions! We still need to

iron out a few

bugs before we

get the system up

and runningGet to know the

ropes

(e informed about the details of a

situation or task!

4on,t worry about

"ara,s taking over

that reporter,s -ob8

she already knows

the ropes!6eep me in the

loop

To keep someone informed about and9or

involved in something such as a plan or

pro-ect especially that which involves or

pertains to a specic group!

We,ve hired a new

intern to help you

with data entry so

be sure to keep

her in the loop

about the pro-ect!:runch the

numbers

5erform numerous calculations or

process a large amount of numerical

data!

5reparing 1ohn,s

presentation to

the ;ederal

/eserve (oard

re0uired many

hours of crunching

numbers !4eliver the

goods

to do what someone hopes you will do "he hired a

songwriter who

has written

several hit tunes

and he delivered

the goods for her!5ull the plug to stop something from continuing 1ane pulled the

plug on the whole

pro-ect as it was

bound to fail!



24/7 "24/7" means 24 hours a day, seven days a week. he convenience store

on the corner is open

24/7.

a tough break !hen something unfortunate happens, it can be

called a "tough break."

t was a tough break for

us when #aroline $uit.

%he was one of our top

performers.

ahead of the curve o be "ahead of the curve" means to be more

advanced than the competition.

!e&re investing a lot of

money in research and

development so we

can stay ahead of the

curve.

ahead of the pack o be "ahead of the pack" means to be better or

more successful than the competition.

f we want to stay

ahead of the pack,

we&re going to have to

work really hard and

continue to innovate.

'%'( "'%'(" is an acronym for "as soon as possible." need to finish these

reports. )y boss needs

them '%'(.

at stake "'t stake" means at risk. &n a little nervous

about giving this

presentation. here&s a

lot at stake.

back to s$uare one o go "back to s$uare one" means to start

something over again.

*ur programmers

identified what they

thought the problem

was with the software.

'fter working for

several hours, it turns

out that the problem is

something totally



different, so it looks like

we have to go back to

s$uare one.

back to the drawing

board

o go "back to the drawing board" means to start

something over again, and go back to the planning

stage of something.

he prototype wasn&t

successful. !e have to

go back to the drawing

board.

backroom deal ' "backroom deal" is an agreement or decision

that is made without the public knowing about it.

think they got the

government contract

because of a backroom

deal.

ballpark number ' "ballpark number" is a very ine+act estimate. m not sure what a

%uper -owl

commercial costs, but

to give you a ballpark

figure, d say about

three million dollars.

behind someone&s

back

o do something "behind someone&s back" means

to do something without someone&s knowledge

and in a way that is not fair.

%he didn&t think it would

be fair to go behind his

back and talk to

management, so she

confronted him directly.

behind the scenes !hat happens in secret or not in front of the

general public is said to happen "behind the

scenes."

hey make it look so

effortless, but they do a

lot of hard work and

planning behind the

scenes.

big picture verything that is involved with a particular

situation is called "the big picture."

ven though we all

have very specific

tasks to do, our

manager makes sure

we don&t lose sight of



the big picture.

blue collar ' "blue collar worker" is someone who works with

his or her hands manufacturing, construction,

maintenance, etc.0. he opposite is a "white collar

worker." ' white collar worker is someone who

works in an office customer service, management,

sales, etc.0 1-lue collar1and 1white collar10 can

also be used to describe a ob, position, or a place.

t&s a blue collar town

with a lot of farmers

and factory workers.

by the book o do things "by the book" means to do things

according to company policy or law. t means to

follow the rules 35.

here are a lot of

regulatory industries

that audit us on a

regular basis. t&s

important that we do

everything by the book.

call it a day o "call it a day" means to decide to stop working

for the day.

!ell, 6ohn, it&s 7

and &m getting hungry.

8ow about we call it a

day9

catch someone off

guard

o "catch someone off guard" means to surprise

someone by doing something that he or she was

not e+pecting.

)ike was caught off

guard when they asked

him to direct the

meeting.

cave or cave in0 f someone "caves" or "caves in" it means that the

person gives in to something or agrees to

something that he or she previously did not want

to accept.

he employees

complained about the

change in policy, but

the supervisor refused

to cave in.

change of pace "' change of pace" is something different from a

normal routine or schedule.

ts nice to go on

business trips because

its a change of pace.

come up short o "come up short" means to try to achieve

something but fail. !e often say that someone has

he charity fund raiser

was supposed to raise



1come up short1 when someone fails to achieve a

goal, but not completely.

three million dollars,

but they came up short.

corner a market o "corner a market" means to dominate a

particular market.

'pple has cornered the

market on mp: players.

hey have a very large

percentage of market

share.

cut corners o "cut corners" means to take shortcuts and find

an easier or cheaper way to do something.

!e don&t cut corners

on our lu+ury products.

hey are all made to

high standards with

materials of the highest

$uality.

cut one&s losses f you stop doing something that is unproductive

and won&t ever generate results, you "cut your

losses."

'dvertising through

that company was

e+pensive and we

didn&t see an increase

in sales. %o, we

decided to cut our

losses and stop doing

business with them.

cutthroat "#utthroat" is used to describe something that is

very intense, aggressive and merciless.

n business school, the

competition was cut

throat.

diamond in the

rough

' "diamond in the rough" is something or someone

that has a lot of potential but first re$uires a lot of

work.

8e was a diamond in

the rough. 8e was

really intelligent and

had great ideas, but his

management and

nglish skills weren&t

very good.

easy come, easy go "asy come, easy go," is an e+pression used to ' lot of people who



communicate that something gained easily is also

lost easily. !e use this e+pression after something

has been lost.

inherit money waste it

on stupid things.

guess it&s easy come,

easy go.

fiftyfifty "<iftyfifty" means something is divided e$ually

=5 for one person, =5 for the other person.

)y business partner

and split everything

fiftyfifty.

from the ground up f you start a business, proect, or something else

from >ero, you start it "from the ground up."

-ill ?ates built

)icrosoft from the

ground up.

game plan ' "game plan" is a strategy or plan. hey&re not sure what

their game plan is for

the upcoming election.

get back in/into the

swing of things

o "get back in/into the swing of things" means to

get used to doing something after you have had a

break from that activity.

*ur company shuts

down operations for

three weeks during the

holiday season. !hen

go back to work in

6anuary, it&s always

difficult to get back in

the swing of things.

get down to

business

o "get down to business" means to stop making

small talk and start talking about serious topics

related to business.

!ell, everyone&s here,

and know everyone is

very busy. %o, let&s get

down to business and

talk about the proposal.

get something off

the ground

o "get something off the ground" means to start a

proect or business.

!e&re very glad that

the planning process is

over. !e&re looking

forward to getting the

proect off the ground.

get the ball rolling o "get the ball rolling1means to start something a !e really need to get



work proect, for e+ample0. the ball rolling on this

proect. he deadline is

in 6une, and it&s

already 'pril.

get/be on the good

side of someone

f someone likes you, you are "on the good side" of

that person.

always remember my

coworkers& birthdays

and get them a card or

small gift. like to get

on people&s good side.

get/have foot in the

door

o "get or have your foot in the door" means to

take a lowlevel position with a company with the

goal of eventually getting a better position with the

same company in the future.

)y son ust took a low

paying internship

position with a large

company. 8e was

happy to get his foot in

the door at a well

known, respected

company.

give someone a pat

on the back

o "give someone a pat on the back" means to tell

someone that he or she did a good ob.

he boss gave -rian a

pat on the back for

coming up with such a

good idea.

give

something/someon

e the thumbs down

o "give something or someone the thumbs down"

means to deny approval.

can&t believe she gave

us the thumbs down.

thought it was a great

idea.

give

something/someon

e the thumbs up

o "give something or someone the thumbs up"

means to approve.

hey gave our new

proposal the thumbs

up. !e&re going out to

celebrate tonight.

go broke o "go broke" means to go bankrupt or to lose all

the money a person or business had.

here was too much

competition and their

e+penses were too



high. hey eventually

went broke.

go down the drain !hen you waste or lose something, it is said to

"go down the drain."

8e dropped out of

college in his third year

and never continued

his studies. 'll of his

hard work and money

went down the drain.

go the e+tra mile o "go the e+tra mile" means to do more than what

people e+pect of you.

!e go the e+tra mile

for our customers. f

someone is dissatisfied

with a purchase, we

refund their money and

offer them a discount

on their ne+t purchase.

go through the roof f something is "going through the roof," it means it

is increasing very $uickly.

!e&re really happy that

our number of

<acebook followers

has gone through the

roof.

gray area f something is in a "gray area" it means that it is

something undefined that is not easily categori>ed.

asked our lawyers if it

was legal, and they

said it wasn&t clear. t&s

in a gray area.

groundbreaking f something is "groundbreaking" it means it is

new and innovative.

he i(hone was a

groundbreaking piece

of technology when it

was released in 2@.

hands are tied f you do not have any control over a situation,

your "hands are tied."

would love to get you

a ob at my company,

but my hands are tied.

)anagement isn&t



hiring any additional

employees this year.

have someone&s

work cut out

f you have a lot of work to do or a particularly

difficult assignment, you "have your work cut out

for you."

%he has to sell A:=,

worth of products by

the end of the month.

%he has her work cut

out for her.

hit the nail on the

head

o "hit the nail on the head" means to do or say

something 35 correctly.

agree with 6ohn

35. think he really

hit the nail on the head.

in a nutshell "n a nutshell" means in a few words. n a nutshell, this book

is about how to

motivate employees.

in full swing f a proect is "in full swing," it means that it has

been completely started and that it is progressing

or moving as fast as it ever will.

#onstruction on the

new site is in full swing

now.

in the black f a company is "in the black," it means that they

are making a profit.

!e&re not having a

great year, but at least

we&re in the black.

in the driver&s seat o be "in the driver&s seat" means to be in control. &m not used to being in

the driver&s seat.

should probably buy

some management

books.

in the red f a company is "in the red," it means that they are

not profitable and are operating at a loss.

!hen started my own

business, we were in

the red for the first two

years. !e didn&t see a

profit until the third

year.

keep your eye on

the ball

o "keep your eye on the ball1 means to focus and

concentrate on what you want to achieve.

know we can do it.

!e ust need to keep



our eye on the ball and

not lose our focus.

last straw he "last straw" means the last annoyance,

disturbance, or betrayal which causes someone to

give up, lose his or her patience, or become very

angry.

*ur boss was unhappy

with -rian&s

performance for a

while, but when he

came to work three

hours late without

calling, it was the last

straw.

learn the ropes o "learn the ropes" means to learn the basics of

something.

like my new position.

m starting to learn the

ropes.

long shot ' "long shot" is something that has a very low

probability of happening.

!inning the lottery is a

long shot, but millions

of people still buy

lottery tickets.

loophole ' legal "loophole" occurs f a law is unclear or

omits information. his lack of legal clarity allows

people or corporations to take advantage of the

situation and pay less in ta+es or gain some other

advantage.

%ome people complain

that millionaires avoid

paying ta+es by finding

loopholes in ta+ laws.

lose ground

opposite is to "gain

ground"0

o "lose ground" means to lose some type of an

advantage market share, for e+ample0 to a

competitor.

'pple lost some

ground to %amsung

last $uarter.

loselose situation

also called a "no

win situation"0

' "loselose situation" is when someone has to

choose between various options and all the

options are bad.

t&s a loselose

situation. f they lay off

more workers, they&ll

get bad press. f they

don&t lay off more

workers, they won&t be

able to compete.



ninetofive ' "ninetofive" is a ob during normal working

hours. he term came into e+istence because

many work days start at B ') and end at = ().

%he was tired of

working a ninetofive

ob, so she took her

savings and started a

restaurant.

no brainer f a decision is really obvious or really easy to

make, the decision is a "no brainer."

aking the new ob was

a no brainer. hey

offered me more

money, a better

schedule, and more

vacation days.

no strings attached f something is given without e+pecting anything in

return, it is given with "no strings attached."

hey will let you try the

product for free with no

strings attached. f you

don&t like it, there is no

pressure to buy it or

give them anything in

return.

no time to lose f there is "no time to lose," it means that there is a

lot of pressure to complete something $uickly.

told them &d send the

email by the end of the

day and it&s already

44=. need to get to

work. here&s no time

to lose.

not going to fly f a solution isn&t effective, people say that it "isn&t

going to fly."

don&t think that idea&s

going to fly. Cet&s keep

generating ideas.

off the top of one&s

head

f someone says something "off the top of his or

her head," it means that he or she gives a

response without thinking about it for a long time

or doing any research on the subect.

have no idea how

many branches they

have. *ff the top of my

head, &d say about 2.

on a roll f someone is "on a roll," it means that he or she *ur profits have been



has had several successes in a row. above our proected

numbers for five

months in a row. !e&re

really on a roll.

on the ball o be "one the ball" means to be alert and aware

of things.

)y new personal

assistant is working out

well. 8e&s really on the

ball.

on the same page

page

f two people are "on the same page," they are in

agreement about something.

Cet&s go over the

details of what we

agreed on ust to make

sure that we&re on the

same page.

on top of something o be "on top of something" means to be in control

of a situation and aware of changes.

read a lot to stay on

top of the latest

changes in my industry.

on your toes o be "on your toes" means to be alert. %tay on your toes.

'nything can happen.

out in the open f something is "out in the open" it is public

knowledge and not hidden from people.

think it&s a good policy

to do things out in the

open because people

get suspicious if you do

things in secret.

out of the loop

opposite in the

loop0

o be "out of the loop" means to not know

something that a select group of people knows.

he opposite, 1to be in the loop,1 means to be part

of a select group with knowledge that others do

not have.

felt like was out of

the loop after being on

vacation for two weeks.

pink slip f someone gets the "pink slip," it means they have

been fired.

hey gave him the pink

slip. 8e wasn&t

performing very well.

play hardball o "play hardball" means to be competitive in a 8e played hardball to



cruel way and without showing mercy. (laying

hardball means doing anything possible to win.

get where he is, so

would be careful what

you say and do around

him.

put all someone&s

eggs in one basket

o "put all someone&s eggs in one basket," means

to rely on only one thing to bring you success.

t&s not good to only

invest in the stock

market. Dou don&t want

to put all your eggs in

one basket.

put the cart before

the horse

o "put the cart before the horse" means to do or

think about things in the wrong order.

hey were trying to find

investors without even

having a business plan.

hey were putting the

cart before the horse.

raise the bar o "raise the bar" means to set the standards or

e+pectations higher, usually by achieving or

creating something better than what had

previously e+isted.

he new software is

getting great reviews. t

looks like they&ve really

raised the bar for the

competition.

read between the

lines

o "read between the lines" means to understand

something that wasn&t communicated directly.

Eeading between the lines involves understanding

what someone is implying or suggesting but not

saying directly.

8e didn&t say that he

wants to leave the

company, but can

read between the lines.

8e&s thinking of getting

a new ob.

red tape "Eed tape" refers to e+cessive rules, procedures,

and regulations that make it difficult to accomplish

something. !e usually use "red tape" to talk about

government re$uirements that create difficult,

timeconsuming barriers for people and

businesses.

he new law is going to

create a lot of e+tra red

tape and we&re going to

have to pay our

lawyers a lot more

money.

rock the boat o "rock the boat" means to cause problems or 8e thought about



disrupt a peaceful situation. demanding a raise, but

then he decided he

didn&t want to rock the

boat.

roundtheclock "Eound the clock" means 24 hours a day. !e have roundthe

clock production at all

our manufacturing

facilities.

run/go around in

circles

o "run or go0 around in circles" means to do the

same thing over and over again without getting

any results.

&ve made phone calls

all day and haven&t

made a single sale.

feel like &ve been

running around in

circles all day.

safe bet ' "safe bet" means something that will probably

happen.

t&s a safe bet that

smart phones will be

much more advanced

in 3 years.

same boat f people are in the same situation, they are in the

"same boat."

!e&re all worried about

losing our obs. !e&re

in the same boat.

second nature !hen someone learns how to do something so

well that it appears that he or she was born

knowing how to do it, we say that the activity is

"second nature" to him or her.

8e&s been a computer

programmer for ten

years. 't this point,

programming is second

nature him.

see eye to eye o "see eye to eye" with someone means to agree

with that person.

!e don&t always see

eye to eye, but

respect her opinions

and appreciate her

honesty.

see something o "see something through" means to do told my boss that



through something until it is finished. really wanted to see

my current proect

through before taking

on another proect.

sever ties o "sever ties" means to end a relationship. !e had to sever ties

with several of our

suppliers due to late

shipments.

shoot something

down

o "shoot something down" means to deny

something, such as a proposal or idea.

t&s best not to shoot

ideas down during a

brainstorming session.

he goal is to generate

ideas, not to critici>e

them.

sky&s the limit f there is no limit to the possibilities of something,

people often say "the sky&s the limit."

!ith their commission

structure, the sky&s the

limit to what you can

make.

small talk "%mall talk" is conversation about unimportant

topics that do not offend people the weather, for

e+ample0.

!e typically spend

about 3= minutes

making small talk

before we start our

meetings.

smooth sailing or

clear sailing0

"%mooth sailing" is a term used to describe a

situation where success is achieved without

difficulties.

*nce our largest

competitor went out of

business, it was

smooth sailing.

snail mail "%nail mail" is the term used for the traditional mail

that goes through the post office. he term is used

because a 1snail1 is a slowmoving animal.

f you want to fill out

form =2 and send it

to the government, you

have to do it using snail

mail. hey don&t allow



you to scan the

document.

stand one&s ground f you "stand your ground," it means that you will

not change your opinion or position on an issue.

!e tried to change the

dress code, but 8uman

Eesources stood their

ground.

start off on the right

foot

o "start off on the right foot" means to start

something in a positive way.

!e offered them a very

generous price on their

first order and

everything shipped on

time. !e really started

off on the right foot.

start off on the

wrong foot

o "start off on the wrong foot" means to start

something in a negative way.

ust switched cable

companies. hey

overcharged me for the

first month&s service.

hey really started off

on the wrong foot.

state of the art %omething that is "state of the art" is modern and

technologically advanced.

-ill ?ates lives in a

stateoftheart home

with a lot of modern

technology that most

people don&t have

access to.

take something

lying down

o "take something lying down" means to accept

something unpleasant without fighting back.

he proposed law

would kill our industry,

but we&re not going to

take it lying down.

!e&re going to fight

back and try to make

sure the law doesn&tget passed.



take the bull by the

horns

o "take the bull by the horns" means to directly

confront a difficult situation.

*ne of our midlevel

managers wasn&t very

popular and was

causing some

problems, so we took

the bull by the horns

and replaced him with

somebody else.

talk someone into

something

o "talk someone into something" means to

convince someone to do something.

was hesitant to

redesign our website,

but my employees

talked me into it. &m

glad they did. he new

site is much better than

the previous one.

talk someone out of

something

o "talk someone out of something" means to

convince someone not to do something.

wanted to make a real

estate investment, but

my financial adviser

talked me out of it.

the elephant in the

room

"he elephant in the room" refers to a big problem

or controversial issue which is obvious, but which

no one wants to talk about.

!e should have been

talking about our huge

debt, but it seemed like

no one wanted to talk

about the elephant in

the room.

think big o "think big" means to have high goals and big

plans for the future.

&m not content with ust

opening one or two

more stores. &m

thinking big think

we can open 3 more

stores in the ne+t fiveyears.



think outside the

bo+

o "think outside the bo+" means to think of

creative solutions instead of common ones.

hinking outside the bo+ involves thinking of

unconventional ideas.

#reating a completely

new product that no

one has ever sold

before is an e+ample of

thinking outside the

bo+.

throw in the towel o "throw in the towel" means to $uit. was trying to learn

(ortuguese, but got

frustrated and threw in

the towel.

time&s up "ime&s up" means that the time for something or

someone has ended.

think his time&s up as

the #*. hey&re going

to replace him as soon

as they find a suitable

candidate.

touch base o "touch base" means to make contact with

someone.

Cet me make a few

phone calls to try to get

an answer to your

$uestion. &ll touch base

with you later today.

twist someone&s

arm

o "twist someone&s arm" means to persuade or

convince someone to do something that he or she

does not want to do.

he owner thought the

advertising budget was

a little high. !e had to

twist his arm to get him

to agree to it.

under the table %omething done secretly and usually illegally0 in

the business world is done "under the table."

o avoid paying ta+es,

they paid some of their

employees under the

table.

up in the air f something is undecided, it is "up in the air." !e&re looking for a test

market right now, but

nothing has been



decided yet.

verything&s still up in

the air.

uphill battle %omething that is difficult to achieve because of

obstacles and difficulties is an "uphill battle."

!inning the election is

going to be an uphill

battle. 8e doesn&t have

a lot of support at the

moment.

upper hand f someone has an advantage over someone else,

he or she has the "upper hand."

8e was more

e+perienced and well

respected, so he had

the upper hand in the

argument.

white collar ' "white collar worker" is someone who works in

an office customer service, management, sales,

etc.0 he opposite of a white collar worker is a

1blue collar worker.1 ' blue collar worker is

someone who works with his or her hands

manufacturing, construction, maintenance, etc.0

1!hite collar1 and 1blue collar1can also be used to

describe a ob, position, or place.

here are mostly

manufacturing

positions here. here

aren&t a lot of white

collar obs here.

winwin situation ' "winwin situation" is a situation where everyone

involved gains something.

!e were happy to get

the contract, and they

were happy to get such

a good price. t was a

winwin situation.

word of mouth f something spreads by "word of mouth," people

hear about it by informal conversation with friends,

family members, ac$uaintances, etc.

' lot of local

restaurants rely on

word of mouth to get

new customers.

writing on the wall he "writing on the wall" refers to the evidence and

clues that something usually negative0 is going to

&m going to get my

resume ready. can



happen. see the writing on the

wall.

yes man ' "yes man" is someone who always agrees with

his or her superiors.

he company isn&t

looking to hire

someone who is going

to try to make a lot of

changes. hey&re

basically ust looking

for a yes man.

Documents

Idioms in Business English