Poniżej przedstawiam opracowanie wybranych idiomów biznesowych wraz z ich wytłumaczeniem po angielsku. Jest ich aż 117 – z pewnością przydadzą Ci się w pracy i pomogą zabłysnąć przed kolegami, bądź szefem 😉. Co więcej, wszystkie te idiomy znajdziesz ładnie opracowane w naszym bezpłatnym ebooku, którego możesz pobrać tu: https://happyhours.edu.pl/idioms
Idiomy angielskie to temat rzeka – zdaje się, że nie ma ani jednego zbiorczego opracowania wszystkich idiomów w tym języku (tyle ich jest!). Wydaje się to niewykonalne zwłaszcza dlatego, że język nie jest tworem statycznym; cały czas się zmienia i ewoluuje (i dzięki temu jest tak fascynujący). Co ciekawe, niektóre angielskie idiomy są podobne do polskich, np. „a drop in the ocean” to „kropla w morzu potrzeb”, a inne nie, np. „a wet blanket” to ktoś, kto psuje zabawę, czyli sztywniak.
Zdaję sobie sprawę, że trudno Ci będzie nauczyć się wszystkich tych idiomów naraz i zapamiętać je przez dłuższy czas, dlatego też mamy dla Ciebie drobną radę: wpisz do małego notesu (takiego, który zmieści się w kieszeni) idiomy typowe dla twojej pracy, noś go przy sobie i przeglądaj raz na jakiś czas (im częściej, tym lepiej). Możesz zapamiętywać frazy np. poprzez ich użycie w zdaniach. Pamiętaj, że idiomy łatwo się zapomina, dlatego ważne, abyś je sobie przypominał przynajmniej raz na miesiąc, np. w trakcie podróży do pracy. Możesz również najważniejsze idiomy wypisać na karteczkach i przypiąć lub przykleić w widocznym miejscu. np. na biurku lub tablicy korkowej – patrz na nie tak często, jak to możliwe i staraj się je zapamiętać.
| 24/7 | 24 hours a day, seven days a week. | |
| A tough break | When something unfortunate happens, it can be called a „tough break.” | |
| Ahead of the curve | To be more advanced than the competition. | |
| Ahead of the pack | To be better or more successful than the competition. | |
| ASAP | „As soon as possible.” | |
| At stake | At risk. | |
| Back to square one | To start something over again. | |
| Back to the drawing board | To start something over and go back to the planning stage. | |
| Backroom deal | An agreement or decision that is made without the public knowing about it. | |
| Ballpark number/figure | A very inexact estimate. | |
| Behind someone’s back | To do something without someone’s knowledge and in an unfair way. | |
| Behind the scenes | What happens in secret or not in front of the general public is said to happen „behind the scenes.” | |
| Big picture | Everything that is involved with a particular situation is called „the big picture.” | |
| Blue collar | Someone who works with his hands (manufacturing, construction, maintenance, etc.). The opposite is a „white collar worker.” A white collar worker is someone who works in an office (customer service, management, sales, etc.). | |
| By the book | To do things according to company policy or the law. It means to follow the rules 100%. | |
| Call it a day | To decide to stop working for the day. | |
| Catch someone off guard | To surprise someone by doing something that he or she was not expecting. | |
| Cave (or cave in) | To give in or agree to something that someone previously did not want to accept. | |
| Change of pace | Something different from a normal routine or schedule. | |
| Come up short | To try to achieve something but fail. | |
| Corner a market | To dominate a particular market. | |
| Cut corners | To take shortcuts and find an easier or cheaper way to do something. | |
| Cut one’s losses | To stop doing something that is unproductive and won’t ever generate results. | |
| Cut-throat | To describe something that is very intense, aggressive, and merciless. | |
| Diamond in the rough | Something or someone that has a lot of potential but first requires a lot of work. | |
| Easy come, easy go | Something that is gained easily is also lost easily. | |
| Fifty-fifty | Something is divided equally – 50% for one party, 50% for the other party. | |
| From the ground up | If you start a business, project, or something else from zero, you start it „from the ground up.” | |
| Game plan | A strategy or plan. | |
| Get back in/into the swing of things | To get used to doing something again after having a break from that activity. | |
| Get down to business | To stop making small talk and start talking about serious topics related to business. | |
| Get something off the ground | To start a project or business. | |
| Get the ball rolling | To start something (a project, for example). | |
| Get/be on the good side of someone | If someone likes you, you are „on the good side” of that person. | |
| Get/have one’s foot in the door | To take a low-level position with a company with the goal of eventually getting a better position with the same company. | |
| Give someone a pat on the back | To tell someone that they did a good job. | |
| Give the thumbs down | To deny approval. | |
| Give the thumbs up | To give approval. | |
| Go broke | To go bankrupt or to lose all the money a person or business had. | |
| Go down the drain | When someone wastes or loses something. | |
| Go the extra mile | To do more than what people expect. | |
| Go through the roof | Something that is rapidly increasing. | |
| Gray area | Something that is undefined and not easily categorized. | |
| Ground-breaking | Something that is new and innovative. | |
| Hands are tied | Someone’s „hands are tied” if they do not have control over a situation. | |
| Have someone’s work cut out | If you have a lot of work to do or a particularly difficult assignment, you „have your work cut out for you.” | |
| Hit the nail on the head | To do or say something 100% correctly. | |
| In a nutshell | To say something in a few words. | |
| In full swing | If a project 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. | |
| In the black | If a company is „in the black,” it means that it is making a profit. | |
| In the driver’s seat | To be in control. | |
| In the red | If a company is „in the red,” it means that is not profitable and is operating at a loss. | |
| Keep one’s eye on the ball | To give something one’s full attention and to not lose focus. | |
| Last straw | The last annoyance, disturbance, or betrayal which causes someone to give up, lose their patience, or become angry. | |
| Learn the ropes | To learn the basics of something. | |
| Long shot | Something that has a very low probability of happening. | |
| Loophole | A legal „loophole” occurs if a law is unclear or omits information. This lack of legal clarity allows people or corporations to pay less in taxes or gain some other advantage. | |
| Lose ground | To lose some type of an advantage (market share, for example) to a competitor. | |
| Lose-lose situation | A situation when there will be a negative outcome regardless of what decision is made. | |
| Nine-to-five | A „nine-to-five” is a job during normal working hours. The term came into existence because many work days start at 9 a.m. and end at 5 p.m. | |
| No brainer | A decision, which is really obvious or really easy to make. | |
| No strings attached | Something that is given without expecting anything in return. | |
| No time to lose | There is a lot of pressure to finish something quickly. | |
| Not going to fly | If a solution isn’t effective, we can say that it „isn’t going to fly.” | |
| Off the top of one’s head | If someone says something „off the top of their head,” it means that they give a response without thinking about it much or doing any research on the subject. | |
| On a roll | If someone is „on a roll,” it means that he or she has had several successes in a row. | |
| On the ball | To be alert and aware of things. | |
| On the same page | If two people are „on the same page,” they are in agreement about something. | |
| On top of something | To be in control of a situation and aware of changes. | |
| On your toes | To be alert. | |
| Out in the open | Something that is public knowledge and not hidden from people. | |
| Out of the loop | To be „out of the loop” means to not know something that a select group of people knows. | |
| Pink slip | Someone who gets the „pink slip,” has been fired by their employer. | |
| Play hardball | To be competitive in a cruel and merciless way. It means doing anything possible to win. | |
| Put all one’s eggs in one basket | To rely on only one thing to bring success. | |
| Put the cart before the horse | To do or think about things in the wrong order. | |
| Raise the bar | To set the standards or expectations higher. | |
| Read between the lines | To understand something that isn’t communicated directly. | |
| Red tape | Excessive rules, procedures, and regulations that make it difficult to accomplish something. We usually use „red tape” to talk about government requirements that create difficult, time-consuming barriers for people and businesses. | |
| Rock the boat | To cause problems or disrupt a peaceful situation. | |
| Round-the-clock | 24 hours a day. | |
| Run/go around in circles | To do the same thing over and over again without getting any results. | |
| Safe bet | Something that will probably happen. | |
| Same boat | People who are in the same situation. | |
| Second nature | When someone does something so well that it seems like they were born knowing how to do it, we say that the activity is „second nature” to that person. | |
| See eye to eye | To „see eye to eye” with someone means to agree with that person. | |
| See something through | To do something until it is finished. | |
| Sever ties | To end a relationship. | |
| Shoot something down | To reject something, such as a proposal or idea. | |
| Sky’s the limit | If there is no limit to what can be achieved. | |
| Small talk | A conversation about unimportant topics that do not offend people (the weather, for example). | |
| Smooth/clear sailing | A term used to describe a situation where success is achieved without difficulties. | |
| Snail mail | A term used for the traditional mail that goes through the post office. | |
| Stand one’s ground | Not to change one’s opinion or position. | |
| Start off on the right foot | To start something in a positive way. | |
| Start off on the wrong foot | To start something in a negative way. | |
| State of the art | Something that is modern and technologically advanced. | |
| Take something lying down | To accept something unpleasant without fighting back. | |
| Take the bull by the horns | To directly confront a difficult situation. | |
| Talk someone into something | To convince someone to do something. | |
| Talk someone out of something | To convince someone not to do something. | |
| The elephant in the room | A term which refers to an obvious problem or controversial issue that no one wants to talk about. | |
| Think big | To have ambitious goals and big plans for the future. | |
| Think outside the box | To think of creative, unconventional solutions instead of common ones. | |
| Throw in the towel | To quit. | |
| Time’s up | It means that the time for something or someone has ended. | |
| Touch base | To make contact with someone. | |
| Twist someone’s arm | To persuade or convince someone to do something that he or she does not want to do. | |
| Under the table | Something done secretly (and usually illegally) in the business world is done „under the table.” | |
| Up in the air | Something that is undecided. | |
| Uphill battle | Something that is difficult to achieve because of obstacles and difficulties. | |
| Upper hand | Someone who has an advantage over someone else. | |
| White collar | Someone who works in an office (customer service, management, sales, etc.). | |
| Win-win situation | A situation where everyone involved gains something. | |
| Word of mouth | If something spreads by „word of mouth,” people hear about it through informal conversation with friends, family members, acquaintances, etc. | |
| Writing on the wall | The term refers to the evidence and clues that something (usually negative) is going to happen. | |
| Yes man | Someone who always agrees with his or her superiors. |
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