İngilizce iş deyimleri kurumsal dünyada, toplantılarda sık kullanılan iş deyimleridir.
Çok teknik olmadan tahvil, komisyoncu, emtia, amortisman, temettü, gayri safi yurtiçi hasıla (GSYİH), açığa satış vb. gibi finansal terimlerden bahsedebiliriz. Hepsi iş dünyasında oldukça alışılmış terimlerdir, ancak nadiren onun dışında kullanılır.
Fakat iş deyimleri biraz farklıdır. İş ingilizcesi ve genel İngilizce, iş ile ilgili yaygın ifadeler ve deyimler söz konusu olduğunda çok daha fazla ortak noktaya sahiptir.
Ana dili İngilizce olmayanlar için, ileri bir İngilizce seviyesine ulaşmak ve bunu sürdürmek için kullanılan en tanıdık ifadelerden bazılarını anlamak önemlidir. Bunlar da iş deyimleridir. Şimdi, iş dünyasında duyma olasılığınız daha yüksek olan ancak işten sonra sosyal yaşamınızda da kullanabileceğiniz temel iş deyiminlerini açıklayacağım.
İngilizce iş deyimleri
Iş deyimi | anlamı | örnek |
A lot on my plate | Very busy with lots of responsibilities | David currently has a lot on his plate as his boss is on vacation |
Ahead of the pack | To be more successful than the competition | If we want to stay ahead of the pack, we’ll have to increase our marketing budget. |
all in the same boat | to be in the same difficult or unpleasant situation | We’re all in the same boat because our company is closing and we need new jobs. |
Back to square one | To start something over again because a previous attempt failed | To make this software finally work, we have to go back to square one. |
back to the drawing board | to start something again because the previous attempt was unsuccessful | The client rejected our first proposal, so we have gone back to the drawing board. |
Back-room boys | People who do important work but aren’t visible to general public | He resented being a backroom boy when Dave took all the credit. |
ball is in your court | emphasises who is responsible for making the next decision | I’ve submitted our proposals to the CEO and now the ball is in his court. |
Ballpark figure | A rough estimate | Can you give me a ball park figure as to what this project will cost? |
Bang for the buck | Something that gives you more value back than the money you spent | Online ads provide more bang for the buck than TV commercials |
behind the scenes | describes things that happen which the public don’t know about or see directly | We gave a successful presentation and I need to thank all those behind the scenes. |
Belt tightening | rigorous reduction in spending | Our company had to do some belt-tightening because of the recent economic downturn |
Big picture | Everything that is involved with a particular situation | Working on all these details, we have lost sight of the big picture. |
Blank check/cheque | Complete freedom of action or control | The board has given the company president a blank check to introduce the reforms |
Blue-collar | Someone who does manual labor work | Joe is a blue-collar worker at the company warehouse. |
Bottom line | Final total of the account or the ultimate deciding factor | I don’t need any details. All I care about is the bottom line |
Brain drain | Loss of educated workforce to other geographic locations | France suffered a brain drain during economic crisis |
Break even point | To have no profit or loss at the end of a business activity | It took us two years just to break even. |
bring something to the table | to contribute something of value (to a company) | She brings a great deal of experience to the table. |
buck stops here | emphasises who is ultimately responsible for something | My team is responsible for meeting the deadline. The buck stops here with us. |
Busman’s holiday | Spending your time doing the same​​ thing you do at work | The painter spent busman’s holiday painting his own house |
By the book | To do things exactly according to the rules or the law | We told our auditors that we do everything by the book. |
call it a day | to stop doing something (to leave work or do something else) | I think we have spent enough time discussing this project. Let’s call it a day. |
Call the shots | To make the important decisions | Who calls the shots when the boss is out of town? |
Cash cow | a consistently profitable business or product | That line of leather shoes is a real cash cow. |
Cave in | Agree to something you didn’t want to accept previously | The management caved in to the demands of the union |
Clamp down on | Take a strong action | The company eventually clamped down on the striking workers |
Climb the corporate ladder | Work your way up to higer positions in a company | He quickly climbed the corporate ladder to become CEO. |
Cold call | A call made without appointment to sell something | Sales people were were handed a list of numbers to cold-call. |
Compare apples to oranges | Comparing two very different things | Comparing life in New York to a small town is like comparing apples to oranges |
Cook the books | Alter facts or figures dishonestly or illigelly | The mafia boss forced the accountants to cook the books |
Corner the market | To dominate a particular market | Amazon more or less corners the online retailing market. |
Crack the whip | Threatening people to make them work harder | Joes father had to crack the whip to make him study harder. |
Cream of the crop | The best person in a group | Google hires the cream of the crop graduates. |
Crunch the numbers | Do a lot of math calculations to make a decision | They crunched the numbers before buying that new property |
Cut a deal | To reach an agreement | Her agent cut a deal giving her 30% of the profits. |
cut corners | to do a task to a lower standard to save time or money | Companies should never cut corners with regards to health and safety. |
cut one’s losses | to stop an activity that is unsuccessful to avoid losing more money | We’ve decided to cut our losses and close the restaurant. |
Cut to the chase | Get to the point quickly | Joan was very busy so I cut to the chase and told her the fact |
Cut-throat | Very intense, aggressive, and merciless competition | Competition in the food retailing business is cut-throat. |
Dead end job | Job where there is no chance of promotion | I am in a dead-end job and looking for a new opportunity |
Dead wood | Someone or something that is no longer useful | She cleared out the dead wood as soon as she took over |
do something/go behind someone’s back | to talk about someone or take action without their knowledge | My team went behind my back and complained to the boss before speaking with me. |
Drop the ball | Make a mistake | Henry dropped the ball by voting against the merger |
Easy come, easy go | Something gained easily is also lost easily | I lost 500 Euros in a poker game last night, but that’s life – easy come, easy go. |
Elephant in the room | A huge problem that no one wants to talk about | Debt crises is the elephat in the room that no one is talking about |
Eleventh hour | The last minute | Eric always waits until the eleventh hour before starting a project |
Fast track something | This idiom is used when we need to make something, like a project or a task, a priority. To fast track something means to speed up the time frame. | Kelly, let’s fast track that project you are working on and finish it by next Friday. |
Fine print | Important details usually printed in​​ tiny letters in a contract | Read the fine​​ print before you sign the contract |
Foot in the door | The first step toward a goal by gaining entry into an organization | She got her foot in the door working as a researcher on a TV show. |
from the ground up | to do something from the start/very beginning | Our boss built this company from the ground up. |
Game plan | A strategy or plan for achieving success | What is our game plan for dealing with our new competitor? |
Get down to business | Start doing things that needs to be done | Lets get down to business first, we can eat lunch later |
Get something off the ground | To start something (e.g. a project or a business) | Now that we have finished the planning phase, we’re eager the get the project off the ground. |
Get The ball rolling | To begin an activity or a process | She tried to get the ball rolling by asking a few questions. |
get your foot in the door | to take the first step with the aim to progress further in the future | She took an entry-level job to get her foot in the door and got promoted after 1 year. |
give someone a pat on the back | to praise someone for an achievement | Our line manager gave us all a pat on the back for finishing the project early. |
give someone the green light | to authorise or allow someone to do something | The directors have finally given us the green light to increase spending. |
give the thumbs up | to show support and give approval | I got the thumbs up from my boss about working from home every Friday. |
Glass ceiling | An unofficial or social barrier to advancement in a profession | She crushed the glass ceiling to be the first woman president |
go belly up | describes a company that fails or goes bankrupt | Several of our competitors went belly up during the last recession. |
Go down the drain | Something is wasted or lost | All our efforts in entering this new market went down the drain. |
go down to the wire | describes something that is not decided or certain until the very last minute | Discussions went down to the wire, but we finally reached an agreement. |
Go the extra mile | To do more than what people expect | To give our customers the best shopping experience, we go the extra mile. |
Go Through the Roof | To increase much more than expected | He is rich now because his commissions have gone through the roof |
Golden handcuffs | Special benefits offered to keep an emplyee from leaving | They hired her with a pair of golden handcuffs |
Golden handshake | Large amount paid as an incentive for early retirement | The new owners offered all employees a golden handshake |
Golden parachute | Employment contract that guarantees great benefits if terminated | She is not afraid of getting fired because of the golden parachute |
Gray area | A situation in which it is difficult to distinguish between right & wrong | At the moment, the law on compensation is very much a grey area. |
Hands are tied | Not being free to behave in the way that you would like | I’d love to help you, but my hands are tied. |
Have your work cut out | Accomplish a difficult task in a short time | He will have his work cut out to get into the team. |
Headhunt | To recruit the best people for top-level positions | A rival company headhunted her. |
Heads up | To inform or warn about something beforehand | Please give me a heads up if there is any change |
Hit the nail on the head | To give a perfectly correct answer | Tom hit the nail on the head when alalysing the problem |
hold the fort | to be responsible for something when someone else is unavailable | I need to hold the fort while the managing director is on maternity leave. |
hot off the press | describes something that has just been released or printed | Our new brochure is hot off the press with all the latest products and special offers. |
Hot water | In deep trouble | The company is in hot water because of the declining sales |
In a nutshell | Using as few words as possible | In a nutshell, we will run out of cash in three months time. |
In full swing | At a stage when the level of activity is at its highest | Construction of our new production site is in full swing now. |
In the black | A person/organization that is making a profit | We’re in the black but we aren’t making much money yet |
In the driver’s seat | To be in charge or in control of a situation | Being offered the position of managing director, I’ll soon be in the driver’s seat. |
In the loop | Informed and updated | Please keep Lynda in the loop as she will be writing a report on this project |
In the nick of time | To arrive just in time | I got to the meeting just in the nick of time |
In the red | A person/organization that is losing money | We were in the red for two whole years |
In the works | In development (coming soon) | Our new product is in the works |
in (out of) the loop | to be in (or outside of) a group of people that share information | Our manager forgets to keep us in the loop about changes to the sales targets. |
Jack of all trades | Someone who can do many different jobs | We need someone who is jack of all trades for this position. |
Keep one’s eye on the ball | To give something one’s full attention and to not lose focus | We should not diversify our product offering too much, but rather keep our eyes on the ball. |
Keep our heads above water | This is commonly used during difficult financial times, when a business is trying to survive. | Unfortunately, we need to fire 25 employees to keep our heads above water. |
keep you on your toes | to describe something that makes you remain alert, energetic and ready | Management make regular checks to keep everyone on their toes. |
Last straw | Final annoyance that causes you to get angry | He got fired because he skipped the meeting; it was the last straw |
Learn the ropes | Learn the basics of something (e.g. a job) | I’m learning the ropes in my new position. |
Learning curve | The amount of time it takes to learn a new skill | It was a steep learning curve for him as he had no prior experience |
Long shot | Something that has a very low probability of happening | Winning the lottery is a long shot. |
Long-haul | Prolonged time and effort | It’s going to be a long-haul before the company becomes profitable |
Movers and shakers | People with a lot of power and influence in a particular field | All the movers and shakers of the industry have their offices here |
No brainer | An easy decision that doesn’t require much thought | Buying this product at such a discount is a complete no brainer |
No strings attached | Something is given without involving special demands or limits | They will let you try the product for free with no strings attached. |
Not going to fly | Something isn’t expected to work out | This product is definitely not going to fly. |
Off the top of your head | From memory without much careful consideration | Off the top of my head the cost was pretty reasonable |
On the back burner | A low priority matter that is put aside for the time being | Its not an urgent issue, lets put it on the back burner for now |
on the ball | to be competent, alert and quick to understand new things | Your team are really on the ball and getting great results. |
On the same page | To be in agreement about something | Let’s go over the contract details once more to make sure we’re on the same page. |
Out in the open | Something that is public knowledge and not secret anymore | Our financials our out in the open anyway. |
Out of the loop | Unaware of the information or an event | I am always out of the loop of the office gossip |
Pencil someone in | To make tentative appointment | I’ll pencil you in for Friday afternoon at 2:00 pm |
Pick brain | Ask for ideas and opinions | I was picking her brain about which computer to buy |
Pick someone’s brains | This means to ask someone who knows a lot about a specific topic for their opinion. | How busy are you today? I would love to pick your brains about this issue we are having with Facebook Ads. |
Play hardball | Firm and ruthless in getting what you want | He’s a nice guy, but he can play hardball when he needs to. |
Play it by ear | This expression means to decide how to deal with a situation as it develops, instead of following plans that were made earlier. | You know what? Let’s play it by ear. I’m sure it will all work out at the end. |
Play second fiddle | To​​ be less important or in a weaker position than someone else | I’m not prepared to play second fiddle to Joe anymore |
Plum job | An easy job that pays well | Joe found a plum job using his family connections. |
pull the plug | to stop a task or activity from continuing | The directors have decided to pull the plug on the project to expand in Asia. |
put all one’s eggs in one basket | to commit all your resources to a single idea or plan of action | I take some investment risks every year, but I never put all my eggs in one basket. |
Put the cart before the horse | To do or think about things in the wrong order | Trying to find an investor without having a business plan is like putting the cart before the horse. |
Raise the bar | To set standards or expectations higher | The iPhone raised the bar for smartphone makers. |
Read between the lines | Look for the meaning that was suggested indirectly | Reading between the lines is necessary in complex negotiations |
Red tape | Official rules and processes that seem excessive and unnecessary | The new law is going to create a lot of red tape. |
Rock the boat | To do or say something that will upset people or cause problems | Don’t rock the boat until the negotiations are finished. |
Round the clock | 24 hours a day | We were working round the clock during the exhibition |
Rule of thumb | A guiding principle based on experience and common sense. | As a rule of thumb each client should have a separate file |
Safe bet | Something that is certain to happen | It’s a safe bet that computer processor speed will more than triple within the next 10 years. |
Same boat | To be in the same difficult situation as someone else | None of us has any money left, so we’re all in the same boat. |
Second nature | A skill so ingrained that you do it without even thinking | Typing​​ becomes second nature after a while. |
See eye to eye | To agree with somebody | My boss doesn’t see eye to eye with me about our marketing campaign. |
See something through | To continue until something is finished | I want to see this project through before taking on another one. |
Selling Like Hotcakes | Sell something very quickly that many people want to buy | I need another load of scanners because they are selling like hotcakes |
Set the record straight | Give the true version of events that have been reported incorrectly | Let me set the record straight about what really happened |
Sever ties | To end a relationship | We had to sever ties with several suppliers due to poor product quality. |
Shape up or ship out | A warning to perform well or leave | The management warned the employees to shape up or ship out |
Shoot something down | To reject something (e.g. an idea or a proposal) | You shouldn’t shoot down your co-workers ideas during a brainstorming session. |
Show the ropes | Show someone how to do a job or activity | Michael will take you around and show you the ropes |
Slack off | Perform unproductively and lazily | Employees tend to slack off on Fridays |
Small talk | Informal conversation about things that are not important | Guests stood with their drinks, making small talk about the weather |
Smooth sailing | A situation where success is achieved without difficulties | Once our largest competitor went out of business, it was smooth sailing. |
Stand one’s ground | To not change one’s opinion or position | They tried to cut my travel budget, but I stood my ground. |
start/get off on the right foot | to start a relationship in a positive way | Everyone hopes to get off on the right foot when they start a new job. |
strike while the iron is hot | to take action without delay when there is an opportunity to do something | I’m confident that this client will sign the contract if we strike while the iron is hot. |
Take the bull by the horns | To directly confront a difficult situation in a brave and determined way | My mid-level managers constantly delayed projects, so I took the bull by the horns and fired several of them. |
Talk shop | Discuss work-related issues in off-work social situations | Let’s​​ not talk shop outside office hours. |
Talk someone into something | To convince someone to do something | I was reluctant to redesign our website, but my employees talked me into it. |
Test the water | Try something out to see if it works or not | I’d like to test the water first before committing myself |
Thick skin | Not easily hurt by criticism | A politician need to have a thick skin |
Think outside the box | Explore ideas that are different and non-traditional | He is trying to think outside the box to make this event a success |
Throw in the towel | To admit defeat | After struggling for years the company finally threw in the towel |
Thrown in the deep end | Put into a difficult situation without any preparation | Lynda was thrown in the deep end right from the fist day of her job |
Time’s up | Time for something or someone has ended. | I think his time’s up as the CEO. |
Touch base | To make contact with someone. | I will touch base with you later today. |
Twist someone’s arm | To convince someone to do something that he or she does not want to do. | My boss thought the budget was a little high, so I had to twist his arm to get him to agree to it. |
Under the table | Something was done secretly and illegally | They offered him money under the table to change his mind |
Up in the air | Something is undecided or uncertain | Our international expansion plan is still up in the air. |
Uphill battle | Something that is difficult to achieve because of obstacles and difficulties | Gaining market share in this country will be an uphill battle due to tough competition. |
Upper hand | To have more power than anyone else and so have control | Due to my experience, I had the upper had in the argument. |
Way off the mark | Completely wrong | Our profit projections were way off the mark |
Weigh in | To give an opinon | Let me weigh in on why I think the recession will continue |
White-collar | Someone who does office work | Jane left the factory for a white-collar position in a local bank. |
Win-win situation | Favorable outcome for everyone involved | The compromise was a win-win situation for everyone |
Word of mouth | Something is given or done by people talking about something or telling people about something | Many local stores rely on word of mouth to get new customers. |
work against the clock | to aim to finish something before a specific time | We’re always working against the clock to meet urgent deadlines. |
Writing on the wall | Clear signs that something bad is about to happen | I can see the writing on the wall that this company is doomed |
Tavsiye yazı:
Hafıza teknikleri: Hafızanızı geliştirmeniz için 29 Altın Yöntem [Bilim destekli]
Test&Quiz. Kendinizi Test edin
- https://theenglishlanguagecoach.com/2019/11/24/business-idioms/
- https://www.espressoenglish.net/business-expressions-quiz/
- https://www.tolearnenglish.com/exercises/exercise-english-2/exercise-english-68911.php
- https://www.idiomconnection.com/business.html
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