Business English Jargon and Slang for EFL Teachers and Students

Business English is a bit like the fashion world – words, terms and phrases come into popular use only to become passé [to fall out of fashion] next year.

You are extra “cool” if you know the language and really “out of it” if you don’t.

Though fashions come and go, much of the terminology will remain in use for many years – which means students of Business English and international businesspeople, NEED to be familiar with it. Most native speakers unconsciously use jargon or slang that doesn’t mean much to speakers of English as a second or foreign language, so here we offer some guidance.

Colloquial American Business Jargon Defined
With credit to Pacific Overtures – whose business English website no longer exists.

The Phrase	The Meaning
20-20 hindsight	perfect knowledge but too late
(someone is) the 800 pound gorilla	most important party to a transaction/or in a group
a lick and a promise	incomplete or limited preparation
arising tide that lifts all boats	something that benefits everyone
an Old (China. Japan, etc. ) Hand	someone with long experience in the place
at loggerheads	disagreement
at the 11th hour	at the last minute
base-tending	protecting one’s assets
begin on a shoestring	start with limited finances
bootstrapped	develop by yourself without outside support
both sides of the aisle	from politics, Involving both parties
bring to the table	what you offer to a transaction
cake walk	easily accomplished
carve out a niche	find a special position to monopolize
Catch 22	what ever you do, it won’t work (Joseph Heller book)
Chinese wall	separation between two parts of same unit
computer virus or “bug”	software corruption
deep pockets	wealthy; has ability to pay
Do you read me?	do you understand (came from military communications)
dog and pony show	financial presentation
don’t make waves don’t rock the boat	don’t disagree or contradict policy
down in the dumps	depressed
downtime	period when equipment isn’t available to perform
draw a line in the sand	make final conditions that cannot be changed
featherbedding	a job that is not necessary (union term)
fence-mending	apology; smoothing bad relations
free ride	obtaining benefit for no cost
from day one	from the beginning
from scratch	from the beginning
goal-tending	protecting one’s assets
going great guns	doing well
hacker	computer expert breaking into a system
hold feet to fire	force, bring pressure
how does that play in Peoria	what is reaction of average person at grass roots
I need it yesterday	jocular way to say it is needed immediately
in the black	profitable
Indian Summer	unusual warm weather after summer is gone
interface the system architecture	computer talk; tying into system
100K	$100,000; K for kilo, or 1,000
it occurred on his watch	it happened when he was in charge (military saying)
it should be a two way street	both sides should benefit/contribute
it will never fly	it won’t work
it’s a jungle out there	a difficult market with tough competitors
Jerry-built	cheap goods (W.W.I pejorative for (German)
jump through hoops	trying very hard (from a dog trick)
keep a low profile	or lie low
lay cards on the table	be perfectly honest
learning curve	speed at which one learns
level playing field	equal treatment
lion’s share	largest portion
marching orders	instructions (from the military)
nest-guarding	to protect
not amount to a hill of beans	no value
number crunching	accounting or financial analysis
on a roll	doing well, moving forward
on the lam	flee from the law (criminal slang)
on the same wavelength	mutual understanding
overview	review of situation
pierce the corporate veil	see the true inside story
pipe dream	unrealistic, from opium smoking
plain vanilla	simple basic version
play hardball	deal in a tough manner
Politics make strange bedfellows	mutual interests bring different people together
pooh-poohing	rejecting
power lunch	big business dealing at lunch
pushing the envelope	expanding activities beyond current restrictions
put on the map	make well-known
put the scotch to	to stop
received over the transom	unsolicited (old style of door with window above)
reinvent the wheel	create something that already exists
right off the bat	immediately
robbing Peter to pay Paul	taking from one to give to another with no net gain
rule of thumb	generally used but imprecise measurement
run it up the flagpole (and see if it gets a salute)	test to see if it gains approval
sandbag	hit from behind unexpectedly
save our bacon	save from danger
savvy	smart, aware, knowledgeable
sea change	a large change
sea legs (to get one’s)	to gain stability
seat of the pants operation	intuitive (flying without instruments)
set on its ear	disrupt
shotgun approach	strike out widely, as opposed to a targeted rifle shot
slam dunk	from basketball; a complete success
smoke and mirrors	tricks to hide the true situation
somewhere (sometime) down the pike	sometime later on (pike is an old word for road)
square peg in a round hole	someone that doesn’t fit or perform appropriately
step up to the plate	take responsibility (from baseball)
tailspin	uncontrolled descent
talk until blue In the face	persuasion with no result
the bottom line	final result or basic meaning (from accounting)
the flip side	the other side (from flipping over a phonograph record or coin)
the genie is out of the bottle	something that can never be changed back
the name of the game (is…)	the basic purpose
the proof of the pudding is in the eating	find out result with actual performance
the whole nine yards	all, everything
to grandfather something	grant exception to the rule due to preexisting status
tongue In cheek	jokingly or not truthfully
took a haircut on that one (or, took a bath)	took a loss
tweaking, e.g. the economy	slight adjustment
unwind a deal	undo, take apart
wallpaper the meeting	include people favorable to your position
what can you bring to the party (or table)	what is your contribution
what makes him tick	what is his motivation
whistling past the graveyard	trying to keep up one’s courage
whose ox gets gored	who will be harmed by this plan
zero-sum game	if someone wins, someone must lose