It’s all Greek to me

LECTURE 1
IDIOMS
IDIOM = a group of words in a fixed order that have a
particular meaning that is different from the meanings of
each word on its own:

To "have bitten off more than you can chew" is an idiom that means you have tried
to do something which is too difficult for you.
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/idiom
Business Idioms 1
• Have a rough ride-difficult
• Be curtains for someone- to be the end, failure or death
• Bump in the road- something, usually something not very serious, that delays a process or
prevents it from developing
• Be heart and soul
• Bear fruit- succesful
• Roll up one’s sleeves- to prepare to work hard
• Ray of hope
• Stand out from the crowd
• Make a long story short
• Paint a grim picture- to describe something in a very negative or gloomy way
Business Idioms 2
• Be like shooting fish in a barrel- very easy
• Be snowed under
• Be as stubborn as a mule- determined to do what you want and unwilling to change
your mind, often in a way that annoys other people
• Be ringing off the hook- so many people are trying to phone you that it is ringing
constantly
• Be a pain in the neck
• Come rain or shine
Business Idioms 3
• Weed sth. Out- to remove
• Farm sth. Out- to send (work) to be done by another person
• Sth. is still half-baked
• Not let the grass grow under smb’s feet- do smth slowly
• The writing’s on the wall
Business Idioms 4
• Be the cream of the crop- the best of smth
• Separate the wheat from the chaff- distinguish what is imp and what is not
• Wildcat strike- a strike that's not approved by a union or sanctioned by any group or
even a vote among workers
• Work one’s fingers to the bone
• Sweeten the pill
• Look for a needle in a haystack- unlikely to find smth
Business Idioms 5
• Be rolling in it- be very risch
• Be paid peanuts
• Cook the books- have changed figures or a written record in order to deceive people.
• Feather one’s own nest- to look after one s own interest
• Lie through one’s teeth
• Not have a leg to stand on- have no facts or sound reasons to support one's argument or
justify one's actions
• Turn a blind eye to sth- to ignore something that you know is wrong
• It’s like talking to a brick wall
Business Idioms 6
• Red-letter day- very happy and important day
• Work flat out- do as hard or fast you can
• Hit a snag- encounter an obstacle
• Start from scratch- from beggining
• Put on your thinking cap
• Set the wheels in motion
• Keep under wraps- keep smth secret
Business Idioms 7
BURSTING WITH PRIDE
• Knock sth together- to make or complete something quickly and often not very well
• Break the news- to tell someone about some important new information
• Plug a product- to advertise something by talking about it a lot or praising it, especially
on the radio or television
• Generate a lot of buzz- to get people talking
• Strike while the iron is hot
• Jump to conclusions
• Rake it in
Business Idioms 8
TEAM PLAYERS
• Eager beaver
• Live wire
• Number cruncher
• Night owl
• Top dog
• South paw
Business Idioms 9
NO TROUBLE AT ALL
• Nothing to it
• No strings attached
• Ring a bell
• Let sth get you down
• No hard feelings
• No sooner said than done
Business Idioms 10
OVER MY DEAD BODY
• Wet behind the ears
• Think on one’s feet
• Keep an open mind
• Be an old hand
• Keep an eye on smb
• Be in over one’s head
• Keep your fingers crossed
Business Idioms 11
TIME IDIOMS
• Against the clock
• Around the clock
• At the end of the day
• Beat the clock
• Crunch time
• For the time being
• From day one
Business Idioms 12
BE A GOOD SPORT
• Be on the home stretch
• Be under the wire
• Drop the ball
• Be still in the game
• Beat smb to the punch
• Play in the big league
• Touch base with smb.