Knowing English Business Idioms is a great way to get ahead in business today.
Idioms – definitions and examples
Ballpark number/figure
- means a very inexact estimate
- The ballpark refers to a baseball field, which is big and and hard to estimate due to its size.
- To give you a ballpark figure, the work is going to cost, I’d say about 230.000 euro
Big picture
- Everything that is involved with a particular situation.
- Since a big picture is … well… big, you have to stand back to see all of it at once. If you go too close, you may only see part of it.
- While working on all these finer details, we have lost sight of the big picture
By the book
- To do things exactly according to the rules or the law.
- We confirmed to our lawyer that we do everything by the book, the accountant has nothing to worry about.
Cut- throat
- Very intense, aggressive, and merciless competition.
- If you literally cut someone’s throat, they would die. So, the idea is that if something is cut-throat, it is ruthless.
- Competition in the retail trade is so cut-throat, it’s very difficult for local traders.
Keep one’s eye on the ball
- To give something one’s full attention.
- Again, this is a common expression used in baseball. We say it to the batter who needs to watch closely the ball in order to hit it.
- We should not diversify our product range, instead we should keep our eyes on the ball and concentrate on our core market.
Raise the bar
- set standards or expectations higher.
- The iphone definitely raised the bar in the smartphone industry.
Red tape
- bureaucracy, official rules and processes that seem excessive.
- There seems to be so much red tape involved in exporting to an un-EU country.
Sever ties
- To end a business relationship.
- Sever means to cut and we often refer to ties as connections. So, severing ties means severing relationships.
- We had to sever ties with our supplier when we heard they had been using child labour.
Now that you have learned out English Business Idioms, take a look at other Business English related posts.
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