|
across the board
- including everyone or everything The computer
company decided to give the workers an across-the-board increase in their
salary.
at a loss
- sell something and lose money We were forced to sell
the computers at a big loss.
bail a company out
- help or rescue a company with financial problems The
government decided to bail out the failing bank in order to maintain stability
in the economy.
ball park figure/estimate
- a rough estimate or figure The contractor gave us a
ball park figure for the cost of repairing the new building.
bang for the buck
- value for the money spent We were able to get a big
bang for our buck when we advertised on the Internet.
banker's hours
- short work hours My sister's husband owns his own
company and is able to work banker's hours with his large staff.
bean-counter
- accountant We asked the bean-counters to look over
the figures in the new budget.
big gun/cheese/wheel/wig
- an important person, a leader The new director was a
big wheel in his previous company but is not so important now.
bottom fall out/drop out
- to fall below an earlier lowest price When the
bottom fell out of the coffee market many companies had to stop doing business.
bottom line
- the total, the final figure on a balance sheet When
they examined the bottom line of the company they decided not to invest in it.
bottom out
- reach the lowest or worst point of something The
value of the stock has begun to bottom out and should soon begin to increase in
value.
boys in the backroom
- a group of men making decisions behind the
scenes The boys in the backroom told us that we must close down the
factory as soon as possible.
break even
- have expenses equal to profits After only three
months the company was able to break even and start making profits.
budget squeeze/crunch
- a situation where there is not enough money in the
budget We have been going through a severe budget squeeze at our
company and must begin to stop spending money in a wasteful manner.
buy off
- use a gift or money to divert someone from their duty or
purpose The land developer tried to buy off the politician but he was
not successful.
buy out
- buy the ownership or a decisive share of
something The company was bought out by another large company in the
textile industry.
by a long shot
- by a big difference, by far The soap company was
able to beat out the bids of the other companies by a long shot.
calculated risk
- an action that may fail but has a good chance to
succeed They took a calculated risk when they introduced the new
computer screen onto the market.
captain of industry
- a top corporation officer The president of our
company was a captain of industry and after he retired he was appointed to many
government boards.
carry over
- save for another time We were forced to carry over
the sale to the Monday after the national holiday.
carry over
- transfer (a figure) from one column or book to
another Our company is still facing difficult times and we will have
to carry over last year's losses to this year.
carry the day
- win completely The president's new idea carried the
day and everyone supported him energetically.
carry through
- put into action The steel company carried through
their plan to restructure all of their operations.
close out
- sell the whole of something, sell all the goods They
decided to close out the store and sell all of the remaining stock very cheap.
close the books
- stop taking orders, end a bookkeeping period They
usually close the books at the end of February every year.
cold call
- call a potential customer from a list of persons one has never
seen When he first started to work at his company he was asked to make
cold calls using the telephone book.
come on strong
- overwhelm with excessively strong language or
personality The salesman came on too strong at the meeting and angered
the other members of the team.
company man
- a person who always works hard and agrees with his
employees My father was a true company man and was always putting in
an extra effort for his company.
company town
- a town dominated by one industry or company When the
coal mine closed down the company town faced severe economic times.
cut back
- use fewer or use less The company has been cutting
back on entertainment expenses for over a year now.
cut corners
- economize We have been forced to economize on
stationary expenses during these severe economic times.
cut off
- interrupt or stop The speech of the president was
cut off when the electricity went off in the building.
cut one's losses
- do something to stop losing money or something We
should sell the old machinery as soon as possible and try and cut our losses.
deliver the goods
- succeed in doing well what is expected The new owner
of the company is not very popular but he is able to deliver the goods.
double-check
- check something again to confirm We were unable to
double-check the costs of the new products before the price list was printed.
face value
- the official worth or trust of something Although
the face value of the postage stamp was very low it sold at the auction for much
money.
fair play
- justice, equal and right action to someone The
company is very good to work for as they always use fair play when they are
bargaining with their employees.
figure out
- find an answer by thinking about something Everyone
in our company is trying to figure out what our boss is going to do with the new
equipment.
fill the bill
- be just what is needed That new machine should fill
the bill as to what we need to finish the job.
finger in the pie
- involved in what is happening, receiving money for
something The new manager has his finger in the pie in all aspects of
our company's business.
gain ground
- go forward, make progress Our company has been
gaining ground in our attempt to be the best in the industry.
get a break
- get an opportunity or good deal We were able to get
a break on the price of the paint and saved a lot of money.
get off the ground
- make a successful beginning, go ahead We were unable
to get the new product off the ground and will have to wait until next year.
give someone the green light
- give permission to go ahead with a project Our boss
gave us the green light to begin work on the new sales promotion.
go public
- sell shares of a privately owned company to the
public The stock of the Internet company rose very quickly when they
went public.
go through with
- finish, do as planned or agreed We have decided not
to go through with our plans to launch the new product until we have solved all
of its problems.
hard sell
- sell something by being very aggressive The car
salesman gave us a hard sell so we decided to go to another dealer.
heads will roll
- someone will be punished Heads will roll when our
boss learns about the money that we have lost recently.
in black and white
- in writing The company refused to deal with the
customer's complaints until they saw them in black and white.
in charge of
- in control of, responsible for My sister has been in
charge of buying supplies at her company for many years.
in short supply
- not enough, in less than the amount or number
needed Experienced computer programmers are in short supply at our
company.
in stock
- have something ready to sell or use They didn't have
any computer printer ribbons in stock at the store.
in the black
- successful or making money The new company has been
in the black for over a year now.
in the long run
- in the final result The company has been losing
money recently but in the long run they should do very well.
in the market for
- ready to buy something We have been in the market
for a new computer for a long time but still we haven't bought one.
in the red
- losing money, unprofitable The company began to go
into the red when the price of oil began to rise rapidly.
in the works
- in preparation, being planned or worked on The
camera company has a new automatic camera in the works but nobody knows about it
yet.
jack up
- make a price higher The steel companies decided to
jack up the price of steel at the beginning of the year.
keep books
- keep records of money gained and spent The new
assistant to the sales manager has no experience keeping books and has made many
mistakes.
keep track of
- keep a count or record, stay informed They have been
making a great effort to keep track of the number of visitors to their store.
kickback
- money paid illegally for favorable treatment The
construction company was taken to court for giving kickbacks to the local
politicians.
make a go of
- produce good results, succeed Although he works very
hard in his small business he has been unable to make a go of it and
may soon go out of business.
mean business
- be serious Our boss means business when he tells
everyone to try and work harder.
number-cruncher
- an accountant, someone who works with numbers Our
president is a good number-cruncher and understands about the finances of our
company.
on hand
- in one's possession, ready We didn't have any
supplies on hand and were unable to finish the job.
(buy) on credit
- buy something without paying cash My friend had no
money so he decided to buy the furniture on credit.
on the block
- for sale As soon as they purchased the company they
began to put some of the equipment on the block.
pay off
- make a profit, be successful The furniture
manufacturer was unable to pay off their loan and had to go out of business.
piece/slice of the action
- a share in the activity or the profits of
something The inventor wanted a large piece of the action of the
profits from the new computer that he had invented.
red ink
- debt (red ink on a financial statement) The
automobile company has been drowning in red ink since the US dollar began to
rise.
run short
- not have enough in quantity They ran short of
gasoline at the gas station and had to close early.
saddled with debt
- burdened with debt Our sister company is saddled
with a great amount of debt and should be sold as soon as possible.
sell like hotcakes
- sell very quickly The children's toys were selling
like hotcakes at the end of the year.
sell out
- sell all of a product Every year at least one
company sells out all of their products which frustrates many customers.
strike while the iron is hot
- take advantage of an opportunity We decided to
strike while the iron was hot and began to market the product
around the time of
the Olympics.
sweetheart deal
- a deal made between friends so that both may make a big
profit We were able to make a sweetheart deal with our landlord and
got the rent greatly reduced.
take a nosedive
- collapse, fail, decrease in value The stock market
took a nosedive when the earnings of the oil company began to weaken.
take on
- to give a job to or hire someone The company took on
many new workers during the busy holiday season.
take over
- take control or possession of something, take charge or
responsibility The government decided to take over the bank after it
declared bankruptcy.
take public
- sell shares in a company to the general public We
decided it was necessary to take our company public in order to raise money to
expand our facilities.
take stock
- count the items of merchandise or supplies in stock, take
inventory The department store closes down for 3 days every March in
order to take stock.
throw cold water on
- discourage, forbid The managers threw cold water on
the plans to close down the factory for one week in August.
throw money at something
- try to solve a problem by spending money on it The
president of our company is willing to throw a lot of money at the problem in
the hope of solving it.
tight spot
- a difficult situation The computer manufacturing
company has been in a tight spot since the shortage
of computer chips appeared.
turn over
- to buy and then sell something to customers The
turn-over at that discount store is very rapid.
work out
- plan, develop I spent the weekend trying to work out
the budget estimates for next year.
write off
- remove from a business record, cancel a debt It was
impossible for the bank to collect the money so they were forced to write off
the loan. 
Idiom Quizzes - Business
| 