Business English Idioms | Business English Pod

Business English Idioms

BEP — Fri, 03 Mar 2006 11:21:31 +0000

English Idioms lessons by Business English Pod. Learn common business English idioms and improve your understanding of English idioms. We have over 40 Business English lessons on all types of English idioms. Learn business idioms related sports, war, gambling, time, color, food and a host of other topics.

All business English idioms. Lessons are listed by release date, with the most recent lesson at the top.

BEP 163c – Football Idioms (Part 1)

BEP 413 – Business English Idioms about Technology (2)

BEP 412 – Business English Idioms about Technology (1)

BEP 405 – English Idioms about Animals (2)

BEP 404 – English Idioms about Animals (1)

BEP 394 – English Idioms about Body Parts (2)

BEP 393 – English Idioms about Body Parts (1)

BEP 386 – English Idioms about Spending Money (2)

BEP 385 – English Idioms about Spending Money (1)

BEP 377 – English Idioms for Describing Challenges (2)

BEP 376 – English Idioms for Describing Challenges (1)

BEP 363 – English Idioms for Strengths and Weaknesses (2)

BEP 362 – English Idioms for Strengths and Weaknesses (1)

BEP 351 – Idioms for Describing Relationships (2)

BEP 350 – Idioms for Describing Relationships (1)

BEP 341 – Business English Idioms: Food Idioms (3)

BEP 340 – Business English Idioms: Food Idioms (2)

BEP 339 – Business English Idioms: Food Idioms (1)

BEP 331 – English Idioms for Giving Advice and Warnings (2)

BEP 330 – English Idioms for Giving Advice and Warnings (1)

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BEP 163c – Football Idioms (Part 1)

BEP — Sun, 07 Jun 2026 18:50:20 +0000

https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/bizpod/BEP-163c-Football-Idioms-1.mp3

Welcome back to Business English Pod. With the World Cup about to kick off, we’re taking a fresh look at one of our lessons on business English idioms related to football.

What do you call an activity where groups of people compete strategically against each other as they strive to be the winner? I mean an activity with a clear goal where success requires strong teamwork and a commitment to excellent performance? Some of you might be thinking about sports. Some of you might be thinking about business. Well, you’re both right.

There are so many obvious similarities between sports and business, it’s no wonder that we see the language of sport come into play in the corporate world. And there’s a particular type of language that we’re going to focus on in this lesson, called idioms. Just like the expression “come into play,” which means to be involved or to be a factor in something.

Now when I say “football,” I’m referring to the game with the round ball that players kick into a net past a goalkeeper. It’s what North Americans tend to call “soccer,” to differentiate it from their own game of football, which is a whole different ball game altogether! Internationally, football – or soccer – is the most popular sport in the world. So it’s no wonder it has inspired so many idioms commonly used in business.

In the dialog, we’ll hear Karl and Marilyn, two friends who work at a publishing company. Karl is thinking about applying for a job at the company’s Sydney office. He has some doubts though, so he asks Marilyn what she thinks.

Listening Questions

1. How does Karl describe his approach to his career?
2. Why is Karl worried about the other candidates for the job he’s interested in?
3. What does Marilyn say happens at the Sidney office?

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Download: Podcast MP3>>> The post BEP 163c – Football Idioms (Part 1) first appeared on Business English Pod :: Learn Business English Online.

BEP 413 – Business English Idioms about Technology (2)

BEP — Sun, 16 Feb 2025 18:44:42 +0000

https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/bizpod/BEP-413-Technology-Idioms-2.mp3

Welcome back to Business English Pod for the second part of our series on English idioms related to technology.

Every day you use dozens of high-tech devices and apps to communicate, plan, organize, monitor and store information. It’s almost impossible to imagine the workplace before modern technology. It’s also almost impossible to imagine the English language without all the idioms we use related to technology.

If you want to be on the same wavelength as expert English speakers, you can’t ignore idioms. And I just used a prime example there. If you are “on the same wavelength,” it means you understand each other. This comes from radio technology, where you have to be tuned to the same frequency to receive a signal.

As you can see, an idiom has a special meaning that isn’t always clear. You can think about the words on their own, but that won’t help you. You need to learn idioms as chunks of language, with a special meaning beyond the individual words. In this way, you will be able to communicate even better in English.

In this lesson, we’ll rejoin a conversation at an engineering company between Maggie, Antonio, and Finn. They are continuing their conversation about upgrading the tech systems in their company. In their discussion, they use many idioms related to technology. See if you can spot some of these, and we’ll explain them later in the debrief.

Listening Questions

1. What does Antonio say about HR and their training plans?
2. Why didn’t the company move to PayWorks software a couple of years ago?
3. How does Antonio describe the new servers that are available?

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Download: Podcast MP3>>> The post BEP 413 – Business English Idioms about Technology (2) first appeared on Business English Pod :: Learn Business English Online.

BEP 412 – Business English Idioms about Technology (1)

BEP — Sun, 02 Feb 2025 17:35:02 +0000

https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/bizpod/BEP-412-Technology-Idioms-1.mp3

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on business English idioms related to technology.

The world of tech has given rise to a host of new vocabulary and terminology. Think about a phrase like “to reboot,” which originally referred to restarting a computer but is now commonly used to mean starting over in any context. Idioms like that highlight how mastering language goes beyond just grammar.

Indeed, many language learners spend a lot of time trying to figure out the nuts and bolts of a language. By that I mean the grammar, writing system, sounds, and basic vocabulary of a language. The thing is, once we’ve got the nuts and bolts, it can feel like our progress stalls. Getting to the next level requires you to move beyond basic vocabulary and master expressions like idioms.

For example, a second ago, I mentioned the “nuts and bolts” of language. Nuts and bolts are a way of connecting things made of metal. So why am I using those words when I talk about language? Because “nuts and bolts” is used as an idiom to refer to the basic parts or pieces of something. And with technology as such an important part of our lives, it’s no wonder we have so many English idioms related to technology.

In this lesson, we’ll listen to a conversation at an engineering company. The company is led by Maggie, Antonio, and Finn. They’re talking about how the growth in their company requires upgrades to all their tech systems. In their discussion, they use many idioms related to technology. See if you can spot some of these, and we’ll explain them later in the debrief.

Listening Questions

1. Near the start of the meeting, what does Finn say he wants to avoid doing?
2. What does Maggie worry might happen if they don’t improve or “level up” their tech systems?
3. What does Antonio say the company did with Zoom not long ago?

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Download: Podcast MP3>>> The post BEP 412 – Business English Idioms about Technology (1) first appeared on Business English Pod :: Learn Business English Online.

BEP 405 – English Idioms about Animals (2)

BEP — Sun, 04 Feb 2024 20:23:33 +0000

https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/bizpod/BEP405-Animal-Idioms-2.mp3

Welcome back to Business English Pod the second part of our series on English idioms related to animals.

English can be a difficult language to learn. One reason, which you’ve likely discovered, is that there are so many different ways to say something. It’s not just a variety of individual words, but also the variety of idioms. Idioms can be tricky. You might hear someone say “it’s a dog eat dog world” and wonder: why are they talking about dogs?

In fact, a “dog eat dog world” is not about dogs at all. This is an idiom that describes a tough competitive environment. Just like the business world in which you’re trying to learn English so you can compete. English is full of expressions like this. And it turns out that we have dozens of idioms related to animals.

In this lesson, we’ll rejoin a conversation among three colleagues in a large corporation. Ruby, Dylan and Kyle have been discussing the Chief Investment Officer position in their company, as well as the world of investments. In their conversation they use many idioms related to animals. See if you can spot some of these as we go through the dialog, and we’ll explain them later in the debrief.

Listening Questions

1. How does Dylan describe his investment advisor’s work habits?
2. What does Ruby say to communicate to her colleagues that she doesn’t have special information to share?
3. What does Dylan believe the company needs to do to prove they’re serious about IT transformation?

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Download: Podcast MP3>>> The post BEP 405 – English Idioms about Animals (2) first appeared on Business English Pod :: Learn Business English Online.

BEP 404 – English Idioms about Animals (1)

BEP — Sun, 21 Jan 2024 17:18:00 +0000

https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/bizpod/BEP404-Animal-Idioms-1.mp3

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on English idioms related to animals.

Like all our lessons, this one is focused on language that you can use at work and in business. When you work like a dog, you can’t waste your time learning expressions you’ll never use. And when it comes to idioms, you should focus on the ones that are commonly used and widely understood. Like the one I just used: “to work like a dog.”

In fact, there’s a ton of idioms in English that mention animals, especially dogs. That’s probably because so many of us keep them as pets. But we’ve got idioms about cats, horses, snakes, fish, cows, bears and countless other animals. And learning these idioms can add to your language toolbox and make you sound more natural. Besides, a well-placed idiom can add a lot of impact to a sentence.

In this lesson, we’ll listen to a conversation between Dylan, Ruby, and Kyle – three colleagues in a large corporation. They’re talking about the Chief Investment Officer position in their company. They discuss the former person in the role, people who applied for the job, and the person who got it. In their conversation they use many idioms related to animals. See if you can spot some of these, and we’ll explain them later in the debrief.

Listening Questions

1. How does Ruby describe Greg, the person in finance who applied for the Chief Investment Officer job?
2. How does Dylan describe Brett, the former Chief Investment Officer?
3. What expression does Ruby use to describe the current challenging market?

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Download: Podcast MP3>>> The post BEP 404 – English Idioms about Animals (1) first appeared on Business English Pod :: Learn Business English Online.