2. •Get down to
business
• After a lot of talking about doing
something, it might be time to get
down to business or get down to
work. This means to begin
seriously working on what needs
to be done.
• Example:
3. • Snowed under
• If you’re snowed under at work,
it means you are overwhelmed,
especially by paperwork.
• EXAMPLE: "I’m totally covered in
snow right now; I’ll have to stay
late with the paperwork."
4. • Off the mark / off the base
• If someone is out of place, it
means they are very wrong or have
completely misunderstood. You
can also hear the wide mark that
has a similar but less severe
meaning.
• "They are out of place with this
proposal; I don’t think they
understood our requirements at
all."
5. • On the same page
• This is a really common business
idiom. If you’re on the same page
as someone, it means you are in
agreement or thinking in the same
way.
• “I’m glad to see we’re on the
same page; I’m sure we won’t have
any trouble working together.”
6. • Get the ball rolling
• To get the ball rolling means to
begin something or get a process
started.
• “I’d like to arrange a meeting to
get the ball rolling on our next
project.”
7. • Fast track
• If something is very urgent or
important, you may need to speed it up.
Used as a verb, it means to prioritize or
accelerate, but you can also use it as a
noun, which means the most direct route
to achieve a goal.
• "We need to speed up this customer’s
order because he just called to complain
about our slow delivery times."
• "He’s on the fast track to a
management position."
8. • Think outside the box
• Thinking outside the box means
thinking in a different way, putting
aside the obvious approach and
trying something more
unconventional.
• “Our marketing strategy isn’t
delivering a high enough return.
We need to think outside the box.
Any ideas?”
9. • A win-win situation
• Another cliché that you may
prefer to avoid, a win-win situation
is one in which both parties
benefit (and isn’t that, really, what
business is all about?).
• “I am convinced we are in a win-
win situation with this new
supplier.”
10. • Jump through hoops
• Jumping through hoops means
doing a lot of extra things in order
to get a result.
• "I’m tired of having to jump
through so many hoops every time
I want to sublimate the shirts "
11. • Cover a lot of ground
• If you have a big project or a lot
of work to catch up on, you may
need to cover a lot of ground. This
means to make fast progress
through a lot of tasks or
information.
• “We need to cover a lot of
ground in the next week. The
project is due for review on
Friday.”
