101 English Idioms (and

Phrasal Verbs) For

Professionals
Useful Phrases to Improve Your English, Yourself, and
Your Career

By: Ryan O’Loughlin

Website: englishformydream.com

Email: Hello@englishformydream.com

Twitter: @EnglishForDream
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Note to readers:

Hello and welcome! Thanks for downloading this report. I am glad you are serious about
improving your English.

In my five years’ experience of teaching English, I’ve noticed that there are many
phrases that we commonly use in business (and in everyday life) that are not taught in
English textbooks. This book will help you speak English confidently.

Here are some quick notes about the book:

 There are 101 English phrases in the list.

 The list is in alphabetical order (from A to Z).
 The left column contains the phrase (term), the middle column has the meaning
(definition), and in the right column is an example sentence (sentence). It looks
like this:
Term Definition Sentence
Apple A fruit I eat apples every day.
 The phrases are a mixture of idioms, phrasal verbs (two-word verb phrases), and
slang words.
 The example sentences are in a conversational setting (or tone), in a way that a
native speaker might actually speak.
 Remember, with phrasal verbs, the verb tense can change. I’ve changed a few
tenses in the examples to show you.
 If you have any questions, you can email me at hello@englishformydream.com. I
read every email and will do my best to help you.
 Also, follow me on Twitter @EnglishForDream. And get my English tips here:
englishformydream.com/english-blog
 Improve your listening! Don’t forget to buy the audio version of this book for
only $1. Click here to get the audio version of this ebook.
 If you like this book, share it with your English-learning friends!

Thank you, and good luck on your English journey!

Ryan (www.englishformydream.com)

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List of 101 English Idioms and Phrasal Verbs for Professionals

Term Definition Sentence

24/7 24 hours a day, 7 days a week The convenience store
is open 24/7.
Acronym An abbreviation usually SEC is an acronym for
consisting of the first letters the “Securities and
of other words; sometimes Exchange Commission.”
pronounced as one word,
sometimes pronounced as
the letters themselves
Ahead of (behind) the Ahead of (or behind) current Jed is smart; he is ahead
curve expectations, thinking, or of the curve.
current trends
Our company has to
adapt; we are behind
the curve a little bit.
Anticipate To expect or predict We are anticipating a
loss this quarter.
ASAP An acronym meaning “as We need to finish the
soon as possible” report ASAP.
Back to square one Back to where you started; The project failed, so
back to the beginning now we are back to
square one.
Back to the drawing When an idea doesn’t work, we say The company rejected our
board this when we have to start over; proposal, so let’s go back to
similar to back to square one the drawing board.

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Ballpark An estimation of a number “Can you please give me

number/figure a ballpark figure on
how much it will cost?”

“Can you please give me

a ballpark number on
how much it will cost?”
Behind the scenes Out of sight from the public; John’s coworkers did a
in secret lot of work behind the
scenes, but John got all
the credit for the
project.
Blue chip stocks Giant stocks of companies Apple and Microsoft are
with solid, great reputations blue chip stocks.

Boneheaded move A stupid action or idea Wearing sneakers to the

job interview was a
boneheaded move!
Bookworm Someone who loves to read Megan is a bookworm;
books she’s read every Harry
Potter book three times.
Brainstorm To think about new ideas, We are brainstorming
usually in a group setting ways to get new
customers.
Break-even To earn as much money as The company broke-
you’ve spent; when revenues even last quarter; it
equal cost neither gained nor lost
money.
Bucks Slang term for U.S. dollars The ticket costs 100
bucks.

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Burn the candle at To work so hard that you are She has been burning
both ends exhausted, usually going to the candle at both ends
bed very late and getting up by working and going to
very early school.
Burn the midnight oil To stay awake at night to John has been burning
work or study the midnight oil
preparing for his exam.
Buy time To waste time or delay for Our project is not
something; to stall finished yet. We need to
buy some time to finish
and make the client
happy.
Call it a day To finish something, end the We did a lot of work
business day, or go home today. Let’s call it a day.

Carte blanche Complete freedom to act, The CEO has carte

make decisions, or do blanche over all
business as you think is right business decisions.
Cash cow A business (or product) that The restaurant is such a
makes a lot of profit cash cow; it’s crowded
almost every night.
Catch (someone) off To make someone surprised The difficult interview
guard or confused question caught her off
guard.
Catch up To meet with a person after “Hey, Mary. It’s good to
you haven’t seen or spoken see you again. I have a
to them in a long time meeting now but why
don’t we catch up over
coffee later today?”
Come up short To fail to meet someone’s The Yankees came up
expectations short this year by losing
lots of easy games.

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Corner the market To dominate the market Microsoft has been

trying to corner the
computer market for
years.
Cut corners To take shortcuts in order to The boss doesn’t want
save effort or money; to be to hire employees who
lazy cut corners.
Cut one’s losses To withdraw from a losing The project is failing, so
situation; to give up let’s cut our losses and
move on.
Draw a blank To forget something you “What is his name? I
usually know; to not say know it, but I am
anything drawing a blank right
now.”
Drop (someone) a line To call someone or contact “I am out of the office
someone this week, but drop me
a line next week and we
can talk.”
Facts and figures Precise details/data, usually The presentation had a
with graphs or pictures or lot of facts and figures
charts which made our
decision easier.
Far-off Not near one’s expectations He wants to do the
or agreement work for $10,000. We
can only afford to pay
him $2,000. Our
numbers are too far-off,
so we cannot do
business with him.
Fifty-fifty (50/50) When something is divided in half We formed a
or split between two people; 50% partnership and split the
for one person and 50% for the profits fifty-fifty.
other person

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Follow through (with To keep a promise; to He did not follow

something) execute, deliver, or provide a through with his
result promises.
Game plan A strategy or plan We need a game plan to
launch our new product.

Get back (to someone) To reply or respond to “I am away from my

someone, usually through desk now. I will get back
phone or email to you as soon as I can.”
communication
Get the ball rolling To start or begin something, We really need to get
like a meeting, project, etc. the ball rolling on our
new project.
Give-and-take To have mutual concessions; Negotiation is a game of
to communicate and give-and-take.
compromise
Go broke To lose all of your money She will go broke if she
keeps spending her
money on fancy cars
and trips.
Go for broke To risk everything, usually The team was down by
with full effort five runs in the ninth
[different from “go broke”] inning, so they went for
broke and won the
baseball game.
Go the extra mile To go above and beyond Our customer service
one’s expectations, to do representatives go the
more than required extra mile to satisfy our
customers.
Goose egg Slang for the number zero (0) “Why is there a goose
egg in our sales
column?” asked the
manager.
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Grab a bite to eat To eat food, usually with Let’s go grab a bite to
another person eat, I’m starving.

Grab a seat To take a seat; to sit down “Welcome. Grab a seat

and let’s talk.”

Gray/Grey area Something that is not easily Our lawyers are not
defined or categorized sure if this strategy is
legal or not. They said
it’s a gray area.
Happy hour A period of the day at a bar or “Care to join me for
restaurant when drinks and happy hour after work
food are discounted. Happy today?”
hours usually occur in the
afternoon or evening.
Have a ball To have fun, to enjoy yourself I have a ball every time
we do a product launch.

Have a blast To have fun; to enjoy I had a blast at the

yourself; same meaning as company picnic.
have a ball
Have deep pockets To be very rich My uncle has deep
pockets so he gave me a
generous Christmas
present.
Hush money Money paid to someone to The CEO paid his
keep embarrassing workers some hush
information a secret money to not talk about
the scandal.
In the black Profitable; making money Our company is in the
black this quarter, so all
of our jobs are safe.

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In the long run In the long term, in the Taking care of

future, extending over a long customers is a good
period of time strategy in the long run.
In the red Not profitable; losing money Sadly, our advertising
[opposite of in the black] department is in the red
this quarter.
In the short run In the short term In the short run, eating
[opposite of in the long run] junk food tastes good,
but in the long run, it’s
unhealthy.
In the weeds Slang used in the restaurant The staff in the kitchen
industry; when workers are is really in the weeds
really busy or backed-up, or and our customers are
having a difficult time at work getting angry.
Kill time To do something while My colleague’s train was
waiting for someone delayed, so I killed time
by reading a book.
Kill two birds with one To do two things at once; to While I am in Florida on
stone solve two problems at one business, I can kill two
time birds with one stone by
working on business and
checking out retirement
homes for my mother.
Look forward to To await excitedly I look forward to
meeting you.

Look out for To watch or expect When climbing a

something, usually with mountain, look out for
caution or care falling rocks.
Loophole When something in the law is Many companies use
unclear or not certain; a loopholes to save
technicality money on taxes.

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Lose (one’s) shirt To lose lots of money, usually He lost his shirt in the
in the stock market 1987 stock market
crash.
Make a killing To make a lot of money Apple seems to always
make a killing on their
new iPhone launches.
Meet-and-greet An event (usually with food I am going to the meet-
and drinks) where people and-greet tomorrow at
meet each other the Hilton Hotel.
Morning person Someone who loves to get up I am not a morning
early person; I love sleeping
[usually NOT a night owl] as much as I can.
Night owl Someone who stays up late My neighbor is a night
[usually NOT a morning owl; it seems like he
person] never sleeps!
No brainer An easy decision; so easy, it’s Going with a lower-cost
like you don’t even have to firm who does better
think about it work is a no brainer.
On par with Equal to or comparable with The service at this small
(something) something else hotel is on par with the
service at a five-star
hotel.
On point Slang meaning perfect, The burgers at this
delicious, well-done restaurant are on point.

Pay dividends To get a reward in the long Doing the hard work
term now will pay dividends
in the future.
Pie chart A graph in the shape of a The pie chart shows
circle (like a pie) that shows that we spend 20% of
percentages our budget on research
and development.

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Pinch pennies To be really frugal or cheap My neighbor lost her job

so now she has to pinch
pennies until she finds a
new one.
Play phone tag When you try to call someone and “We have been trying to
leave a voicemail (message), and speak on the phone for a
they call you back and leave a week now. We are playing
voicemail, and you can’t get in phone tag.”
touch with them easily
Price hike An increase in price Did you notice the price
hike in bus fare these
days?
Pull a fast one To trick someone or to She pulled a fast one by
lie/deceive someone saying she was sick
when really she just
wanted to relax at
home.
Put (someone) on the To ask an uncomfortable or The reporter put him on
spot surprising question to the spot by asking him
someone about his recent
divorce.
Right hand man A helper or chief assistant Joe Biden is President
Obama’s right hand
man.
Sharing is caring A saying that means when I bought a cake and
you share something, you shared it with my
care about the other person friends. Sharing is
or people you are sharing caring!
with
Skyrocket To increase rapidly Our sales skyrocketed
after we were
mentioned in the
newspaper.

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Slow and steady wins This saying means that Our competitor is ahead
the race consistent effort over time is of us now, but they will
better than a lot of effort in lose focus. Slow and
the beginning and small or no steady wins the race.
effort later
Small talk Polite talk, about trivial things The owner of the shop
like the weather, in social always makes small talk
occasions with her customers.
Snake oil salesman Someone who sells fraudulent I think that person is lying
(fake/bad) goods or about how his new health
information product can cure my
disease. He sounds like a
snake oil salesman.
Sold out When all units available for The tickets for the event
sale have been sold sold out in less than one
hour.
Stone cold Completely I was stone cold serious
about the business idea,
but all my friends
thought I was joking.
Stretch (one’s) budget To make your budget last “How can our company
longer than expected; to save stretch its advertising
money by cutting costs budget? Our costs are
really high right now.”
Suck up To treat your superiors in a Sucking up is not a good
good way, solely for your own way to get a promotion;
advantage or gain hard work is.
Swamped Extremely busy I apologize for the
delay; I’ve been
swamped with work.
Sweep (something) To hide something embarrassing that The president is trying
you don’t want others to know about;
under the rug to try to delay or hide from to sweep this scandal
issues/problems under the rug.
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Take a bath Slang term meaning “to lose I took a $100,000 bath
money” on that stock when it
crashed.
Take a chill pill A saying we use when we Why are you so angry?
want someone to calm down Take a chill pill.
or relax
Take a turn for the When things are just okay, or The economy just took
worse bad, and suddenly get worse; a turn for the worse.
to go from bad to worse
Take off Slang term meaning to go fast The great idea took off
or to grow quickly and saved our company
from bankruptcy.
The long and short of In summary “The long and short of
it it is that we lost our
best customer.”
Tie up loose ends To tidy up or finish something Before resigning from
completely, even the minor the company, he tied up
details loose ends by
apologizing to everyone.
To die for Excellent, extremely good The food here is to die
for.

Touch base To contact and communicate; Let’s touch base next

to get in touch week.

Tough cookie A person who is difficult to Some say that Steve

work with; an unpleasant Jobs was a tough
person; someone who is not cookie.
hurt easily
Under the table Cash payment for wages that Many illegal immigrants
are not officially reported and get paid under the
are not taxed by the table.
government

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Under wraps To hide something or to The terms of the new

control something contract are under wraps
until further notice.
Underwater When an asset (like a home) His mortgage is
has more debt than its underwater, he bought
market value his house for $200,000,
but now it’s worth only
$140,000.
Wear down To make an opponent tired or She wore down her
exhausted opponent until he gave
up.
Wear out (one’s) To stay too long at an event; “I accidentally insulted
welcome to become unpopular after the host of the party; I
meeting someone think I’ve worn out my
welcome.”
Wrap up To finish something, to The presentation is
conclude something; to get to going too long; I hope
the end of something he wraps it up soon.
Zone out To fall asleep or to not pay "What did you say?
attention to someone or Sorry, I zoned out.”
something

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Congratulations!

Now you know 101 new English phrases that you did not know before.

And when native speakers say them, you can now understand what they mean. You can
also say them yourself and impress native speakers.

This is powerful! Can you feel the confidence you’ve just gained?

You can refer to this guide often and study whenever you need to, almost like a
dictionary or reference book.

Don’t forget, you can improve your listening and upgrade to the audiobook version of
this book for $1. Click here to upgrade and improve your listening.

If you want to master even more phrases, specifically phrasal verbs, then check out my
ebook, 200 Powerful Phrasal Verbs and Slang Phrases Not Found in your Textbook. Click
here to check it out.

If you have any questions, comments, or feedback, please remember to contact me at

hello@englishformydream.com and I will respond to you. I read every email.

Congratulations again for taking the time to study your English with me. I really
appreciate it and it is my mission to make you a more fluent, confident, English speaker.

To Your English Success,

Ryan

www.englishformydream.com/english-blog

Upgrade for only $1 here.

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