16 Useful Idioms For Work

16 USEFUL IDIOMS FOR WORK & BUSINESS! 16 USEFUL IDIOMS FOR WORK & BUSINESS! PART 1

Native English speakers use idioms all the time. So, you need to understand their meaning if you want to follow conversations. In this lesson, you’ll learn 16 really useful idioms to use in business and at work. This is the first part of a new series. Learn these idioms, and use them whenever you can.

1 A cash cow A “cash cow” is a product or service that generates a lot of money for the company: “Drinks and snacks sales in the cinema are our cash cow – they generate even more than movie ticket sales.”

5 Scale back your hours If you “scale back your hours”, you reduce the number of hours that you work: “After Pete had the accident, he decided to scale back his hours and work part-time until he’d fully recovered.” 2 At a premium If you sell something “at a premium”, you sell it at a price that’s higher than its true value: “When this product first came out, it was selling at a premium, but now it’s sold at about 50% of its original price.”

6 Crunch time “Crunch time” is a critical moment when you need to take action or make a decision urgently: “Sales are down, there are lots of bills to pay and our competitors have just brought out a product to rival our own – it’s crunch time!” 3 To bite the bullet If you “bite the bullet”, you force yourself to make a difficult or painful decision: “Demand for our services is down for the 5th consecutive month, so I think we need to bite the bullet and lay off certain members of staff.”

7 A bitter pill (to swallow) A “bitter pill” is something bad or unpleasant that has happened to you and that is difficult to accept: “Failing to get the contract was a bitter pill to swallow, especially after all the work we had put into it.” 4 Pull your weight If you “pull your weight” in a team, you do your share of the work: “You can’t expect everyone else to do all the work on the project – you need to pull your weight too.”

8 Brownie points If you get “brownie points”, you get imaginary bonus points for doing something good (such as helping someone). As a result, your boss, manager, supervisor, etc. is happy with you: “I got brownie points for volunteering to work at the conference over the weekend.”

9 To climb the corporate ladder If you “climb the corporate ladder”, you get promoted, move up in the company or become a manager: “You need lots of important friends if you want to climb the corporate ladder in this organisation.”

11 Dog-eat-dog A “dog-eat-dog” situation is a competitive one in which people only think about themselves: “It’s dog-eat-dog in the entertainment sector – one minute you’re on top, the next minute, everyone has forgotten about you!”

13 To drum up business If you “drum up business”, you find new customers for your product or service: “Sales were very bad in the last quarter, so we need to think of ideas for drumming up new business.”

15 To fast track If you “fast track” something, you give it high priority, and you make it happen more quickly than usual: “The sporting event is in 20 months, so I think we should fast track the construction of the new stadium, or it won’t be ready in time.” 10 To compare apples to oranges If you “compare apples to oranges”, you compare two very different things: “Comparing the food at this restaurant and the other one is like comparing apples to oranges – one sells fast-food and the other is a 5-star establishment.”

12 To dot your i’s and cross your t’s If you “dot your i’s and cross your t’s” while creating a document, etc., you pay careful attention to all the little details, and you try to make sure there aren’t any mistakes: “When preparing the annual report, it’s very important to dot your i’s and cross your t’s – there can’t be any errors!”

14 To face the music If you “face the music”, you have to deal with the consequences of a bad decision or action: “We launched the product without doing all the necessary market research, which was a disaster, and now we have to face the music.”

16 To generate a buzz If you “generate a buzz”, you create a lot of interest in a product or service, often by doing something that is reported by the media: “They gave away free samples of their product on the streets of London, which generated a lot of buzz.” UNDERSTANDING IDIOMS

An idiom is an expression that describes a situation in a funny, original or unusual way. Interestingly, the meaning of the idiom is different from the meanings of the individual words. For example: • It cost an arm and a leg =

It was very expensive. • She’s over the moon about her new job = She’s very happy about her new job. • I felt like a fish out of water in the party = I felt very uncomfortable in the party.

In some cases, you can guess the meaning of an idiom from the context – what the people are talking about. In other cases, you can “visualise” (imagine) the idiom as some idioms actually represent an action that you might do in the situation that the idiom is referring to. For example: • I like to put my feet up after work = I like to relax after work [Literally, some people put their feet on a chair or table when they want to relax.] • They’re up in arms about the changes = They’re angry about the changes. [Literally, some people put their arms in the air when they’re angry.]

GLOSSARY

lay off = if workers are “laid off”, they lose their jobs. A bullet = a small, metal object that comes out of a gun when you shoot it. To crunch = if you “crunch” something, you apply pressure to it, or push down on it with your foot, teeth… Bitter = “bitter” food has a sharp taste like a lemon, black coffee, etc. A Brownie = literally, a Brownie is the level of girl scouts for girls aged 6-8 A ladder = a piece of equipment for climbing up and down with two vertical bars and steps to stand on. A track = a path or road that goes through the countryside and that is often made of earth. A buzz = if you can hear a “buzz” or a “buzzing” sound, you can hear a continuous, low sound like the one a bee or other insect makes.