business idioms.docx

business idioms.docx

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businessidioms

Herearesomebusinessidiomsforyou. TherearemanymorethanwhatIhaveincludedhere. Thisisjustasamplingofthemostcommonlyused.

DefinitionofanIdiom:

Idiomsare agroupofwordswhosemeaningisdifferent

fromthemeaningsoftheindividualwords.

Example:

‘Letthecatoutofthebag’isanidiommeaningtotellasecretbymistake.

acrosstheboard

MEANING:

includingeveryoneoreverything

EXAMPLE:

Thecomputercompanydecidedtogivetheworkersanacross-the-boardincreaseintheirsalary.

bailacompanyout

MEANING:

helporrescueacompanywithfinancialproblems.

EXAMPLE:

Thegovernmentdecidedtobailoutthefailingbankinordertomaintainstabilityintheeconomy.

ballparkfigure/estimate

MEANING:

aroughestimateorfigure

EXAMPLE:

Thecontractorgaveusaballparkfigureforthecostofrepairingthenewbuilding.

bangforthebuck

MEANING:

valueforthemoneyspent

EXAMPLE:

WewereabletogetabigbangforourbuckwhenweadvertisedontheInternet.

banker'shours

MEANING:

shortworkhours

EXAMPLE:

Mysister'shusbandownshisowncompanyandisabletoworkbanker'shourswithhislargestaff.

Bean-counter

MEANING:

anaccountant

EXAMPLE:

Weaskedthebean-counterstolookoverthefiguresinthenewbudget.

biggun/cheese/wheel/wig

MEANING:

animportantperson,aleader

EXAMPLE:

Thenewdirectorwasabigwheelinhispreviouscompanybutisnotsoimportantnow.

bottomfallout/dropout

MEANING:

tofallbelowanearlierlowestprice

EXAMPLE:

Whenthebottomfelloutofthecoffeemarketmanycompanieshadtostopdoingbusiness.

bottomline

MEANING:

thetotal,thefinalfigureonabalancesheet

EXAMPLE:

Whentheyexaminedthebottomlineofthecompanytheydecidednottoinvestinit.

bottomout

MEANING:

reachthelowestorworstpointofsomething

EXAMPLE:

Thevalueofthestockhasbeguntobottomoutandshouldsoonbegintoincreaseinvalue.

boys/meninthebackroom

MEANING:

agroupofmenmakingdecisionsbehindthescenes

EXAMPLE:

Theboysinthebackroomtoldusthatwemustclosedownthefactoryassoonaspossible.

breakeven

MEANING:

haveexpensesequaltoprofits

EXAMPLE:

Afteronlythreemonthsthecompanywasabletobreakevenandstartmakingprofits.

budgetsqueeze/crunch

MEANING:

asituationwherethereisnotenoughmoneyinthebudget

EXAMPLE:

Wehavebeengoingthroughaseverebudgetsqueezeatourcompanyandmustbegintostopspendingmoneyinawastefulmanner.

buyoff

MEANING:

useagiftormoneytodivertsomeonefromtheirdutyorpurpose

EXAMPLE:

Thelanddevelopertriedtobuyoffthepoliticianbuthewasnotsuccessful.

buyout

MEANING:

buytheownershiporadecisiveshareofsomething

EXAMPLE:

Thecompanywasboughtoutbyanotherlargecompanyinthetextileindustry.

calculatedrisk

MEANING:

anactionthatmayfailbuthasagoodchancetosucceed

EXAMPLE:

Theytookacalculatedriskwhentheyintroducedthenewcomputerscreenontothemarket.

captainofindustry

MEANING:

atopcorporationofficer

EXAMPLE:

Thepresidentofourcompanywasacaptainofindustryandafterheretiredhewasappointedtomanygovernmentboards.

carryover

MEANING:

saveforanothertime

EXAMPLE:

WewereforcedtocarryoverthesaletotheMondayafterthenationalholiday.

carryover

MEANING:

transfer（afigure）fromonecolumnorbooktoanother

EXAMPLE:

Ourcompanyisstillfacingdifficulttimesandwewillhavetocarryoverlastyear'slossestothisyear.

carrytheday

MEANING:

wincompletely

EXAMPLE:

Thepresident'snewideacarriedthedayandeveryonesupportedhimenergetically.

carrythrough

MEANING:

putintoaction

EXAMPLE:

Thesteelcompanycarriedthroughtheirplantorestructurealloftheiroperations.

closeout

MEANING:

sellthewholeofsomething,sellallthegoods

EXAMPLE:

Theydecidedtocloseoutthestoreandsellalloftheremainingstockverycheap.

closethebooks

MEANING:

stoptakingorders,endabookkeepingperiod

EXAMPLE:

TheyusuallyclosethebooksattheendofFebruaryeveryyear.

coldcall

MEANING:

callapotentialcustomerfromalistofpersonsonehasneverseen

EXAMPLE:

Whenhefirststartedtoworkathiscompanyhewasaskedtomakecoldcallsusingthetelephonebook.

comeonstrong

MEANING:

overwhelmwithexcessivelystronglanguageorpersonality

EXAMPLE:

Thesalesmancameontoostrongatthemeetingandangeredtheothermembersoftheteam.

companyman

MEANING:

apersonwhoalwaysworkshardandagreeswithhisemployees

EXAMPLE:

Myfatherwasatruecompanymanandwasalwaysputtinginanextraeffortforhiscompany.

companytown

MEANING:

atowndominatedbyoneindustryorcompany

EXAMPLE:

Whenthecoalminecloseddownthecompanytownfacedsevereeconomictimes.

cutback

MEANING:

usefeweroruseless

EXAMPLE:

Thecompanyhasbeencuttingbackonentertainmentexpensesforoverayearnow.

cutcorners

MEANING:

economize

EXAMPLE:

Wehavebeenforcedtoeconomizeonstationaryexpensesduringthesesevereeconomictimes.

cutoff

MEANING:

interruptorstop

EXAMPLE:

Thespeechofthepresidentwascutoffwhentheelectricitywentoffinthebuilding.

cutone'slosses

MEANING:

dosomethingtostoplosingmoneyorsomething

EXAMPLE:

Weshouldselltheoldmachineryassoonaspossibleandtryandcutourlosses.

deliverthegoods

MEANING:

succeedindoingwellwhatisexpected

EXAMPLE:

Thenewownerofthecompanyisnotverypopularbutheisabletodeliverthegoods.

double-check

MEANING:

checksomethingagaintoconfirm

EXAMPLE:

Wewereunabletodouble-checkthecostsofthenewproductsbeforethepricelistwasprinted.

facevalue

MEANING:

theofficialworthortrustofsomething

EXAMPLE:

Althoughthefacevalueofthepostagestampwasverylowitsoldattheauctionformuchmoney.

fairplay

MEANING:

justice,equalandrightactiontosomeone

EXAMPLE:

Thecompanyisverygoodtoworkforastheyalwaysusefairplaywhentheyarebargainingwiththeiremployees.

figureout

MEANING:

findananswerbythinkingaboutsomething

EXAMPLE:

Everyoneinourcompanyistryingtofigureoutwhatourbossisgoingtodowiththenewequipment.

fillthebill

MEANING:

bejustwhatisneeded

EXAMPLE:

Thatnewmachineshouldfillthebillastowhatweneedtofinishthejob.

fingerinthepie

MEANING:

involvedinwhatishappening,receivingmoneyforsomething

EXAMPLE:

Thenewmanagerhashisfingerinthepieinallaspectsofourcompany'sbusiness.

gainground

MEANING:

goforward,makeprogress

EXAMPLE:

Ourcompanyhasbeengaininggroundinourattempttobethebestintheindustry.

getabreak

MEANING:

getanopportunityorgooddeal

EXAMPLE:

Wewereabletogetabreakonthepriceofthepaintandsavedalotofmoney.

getofftheground

MEANING:

makeasuccessfulbeginning,goahead

EXAMPLE:

Wewereunabletogetthenewproductoffthegroundandwillhavetowaituntilnextyear.

givesomeonethegreenlight

MEANING:

givepermissiontogoaheadwithaproject

EXAMPLE:

Ourbossgaveusthegreenlighttobeginworkonthenewsalespromotion.

gopublic

MEANING:

sellsharesofaprivatelyownedcompanytothepublic

EXAMPLE:

ThestockoftheInternetcompanyroseveryquicklywhentheywentpublic.

gothroughwith

MEANING:

finish,doasplannedoragreed

EXAMPLE:

Wehavedecidednottogothroughwithourplanstolaunchthenewproductuntilwehavesolvedallofitsproblems.

hardsell

MEANING:

sellsomethingbybeingveryaggressive

EXAMPLE:

Thecarsalesmangaveusahardsellsowedecidedtogotoanotherdealer.

headswillroll

MEANING:

someonewillbepunished

EXAMPLE:

Headswillrollwhenourbosslearnsaboutthemoneythatwehavelostrecently.

inblackandwhite

MEANING:

inwriting

EXAMPLE:

Thecompanyrefusedtodealwiththecustomer'scomplaintsuntiltheysawtheminblackandwhite.

inchargeof

MEANING:

incontrolof,responsiblefor

EXAMPLE:

Mysisterhasbeeninchargeofbuyingsuppliesathercompanyformanyyears.

inshortsupply

MEANING:

notenough,inlessthantheamountornumberneeded

EXAMPLE:

Experiencedcomputerprogrammersareinshortsupplyatourcompany.

instock

MEANING:

havesomethingreadytoselloruse

EXAMPLE:

Theydidn'thaveanycomputerprinterribbonsinstockatthestore.

intheblack

MEANING:

successfulormakingmoney

EXAMPLE:

Thenewcompanyhasbeenintheblackforoverayearnow.

inthelongrun

MEANING:

inthefinalresult

EXAMPLE:

Thecompanyhasbeenlosingmoneyrecentlybutinthelongruntheyshoulddoverywell.

inthemarketfor

MEANING:

readytobuysomething

EXAMPLE:

Wehavebeeninthemarketforanewcomputerforalongtimebutstillwehaven'tboughtone.

inthered

MEANING:

losingmoney,unprofitable

EXAMPLE:

Thecompanybegantogointotheredwhenthepriceofoilbegantoriserapidly.

intheworks

MEANING:

inpreparation,beingplannedorworkedon

EXAMPLE:

Thecameracompanyhasanewautomaticcameraintheworksbutnobodyknowsaboutityet.

jackup

MEANING:

makeapricehigher

EXAMPLE:

Thesteelcompaniesdecidedtojackupthepriceofsteelatthebeginningoftheyear.

keepbooks

MEANING:

keeprecordsofmoneygainedandspent

EXAMPLE:

Thenewassistanttothesalesmanagerhasnoexperiencekeepingbooksandhasmademanymistakes.

keeptrackof

MEANING:

keepacountorrecord,stayinformed

EXAMPLE:

Theyhavebeenmakingagreatefforttokeeptrackofthenumberofvisitorstotheirstore.

kickback

MEANING:

moneypaidillegallyforfavourabletreatment

EXAMPLE:

Theconstructioncompanywastakentocourtforgivingkickbackstothel