20 Business English Idioms – Advanced Spoken English Lessons

Learning idioms and slang is one of the most important aspects of improving Spoken English. When speaking English, native English speakers will use a lot of informal phrases and expressions. This is where your knowledge of idioms and slang will be tested. If you are not familiar when the idiomatic expression used, you will not be able to respond or participate in the conversion.

Today, our lesson focuses on Business English idioms. These are idioms that you will typically hear in the corporate world, among professionals and executives (Of course, there is no harm in using these expressions in non business situations). You will hear these in presentations and client meetings. If your client speaks American English or British English, you might hear these on their daily conversations. Or you might even see these used in email communications and other forms of business communications.

 

Face lift

With the stiff competition, John felt their website needed a face lift to complete.

An improvement; redesign

 

Take the bull to the horns

Bill decided to take the bull to the horns and ask for a raise, even if it mean risking his relationship with his boss.

Act bravely; Not care about risks

 

Out of character

Sara felt that outsourcing the manufacturing plant to Vietnam was out of character for the company.

Not the expected way of behavior

 

Hard sell

Lisa’s hard sell approach did not work well with all customers

Aggressive; Eager

 

Fit as a fiddle

Stan was fit as a fiddle, even though he was in his 60’s, and ran 3 miles every day after work.

Great physical condition

 

Put off

I was rather put off by the carelessness he showed in the interview.

Displeased

 

 

Take the floor

The audience became very attentive when Steve Jobs took the floor

To get up to make a speech or presentation.

 

Fully Fledged

The managed wanted to see a fully fledged prototype from the engineers before signing off on the project

Complete

Mull over

Nancy mulled over the proposal for some time but rejected it.

Consider; think over

 

Go off in a huff

Carol went off in a huff after hearing that she was not getting the promotion.

Left in anger

 

High and dry

John left his job suddenly leaving his boss high and dry.

In a troubled situation, without any support

 

Go overboard

Mary felt Charles was going overboard with the new Chinese market and losing focus on the US operations.

Act without careful thinking

 

Monkey on one’s back

“Shipping is a real monkey on my back during the holidays”, complained the head of customer service.

Nagging problem; unresolved issue

 

Fuddy-duddy

Most young silicon valley executives felt that Jim was a Fuddy-duddy.

Old fashioned person; lacked new ideas

 

Talk shop

After dinner, Randy wanted to talk shop with David

Talk about business matter

 

By hook or by crook

Renee was determined to win the contract by hook or by crook.

By honest ways or dishonest ways; in any way necessary

 

Leaps and bounds

The factory improved their efficiency by leaps and bounds after introducing Japanese manufacturing techniques.

Greatly; rapidly

 

At loggerheads

The two bosses had been at loggerheads for a long time, making it almost impossible for the teams to work together.

In a fight

 

Play fast and loose

Richard was given the license to play fast and loose as long as he could increase sales

To do as you please without caring too much about what will happen to other people.