at a premium at a high price; at a relatively high price Example: When flat-screen televisions first came out, they were

selling at a premium.

back-of-the-envelope calculations quick calculations; estimates using approximate numbers, instea of exact numbers Example: ! on"t nee the exact numbers right now. #ust give me some back-of-the-envelope calculations. $ote: %his expression refers to the quick calculations one woul o informally, as on the back of an envelope.

belt-tightening re uction of expenses Example: When worl wi e eman for software ecrease , &icrosoft ha to o some belt-tightening.

(to) bite the bullet to make a ifficult or painful ecision; to take a ifficult step Example: When eman was own, '.(. automakers ha to bite the bullet an cut )obs. *rigin: %his i iom comes from the military. +uring the ,ivil War in the 'nite (tates, octors sometimes ran out of whiskey for killing the pain. - bullet woul be put in the woun e sol ier"s mouth uring surgery. .e woul /bite the bullet/ to istract him from the pain an keep him quiet so the octor coul o his work in peace.

bitter pill to swallow ba news; something unpleasant to accept Example: -fter 0ina spent her whole summer working as an intern for -merican Express, failing to get a full-time )ob offer from the company was a bitter pill to swallow.

blockbuster a big success; a huge hit Example: Eli 1illy ma e a lot of money with the prescription rug, 2ro3ac. !t was a real blockbuster. *rigin: %his term comes from the blockbuster bombs use uring Worl War %wo by the 4ritish 5oyal -ir 6orce. %hey were huge an create a large explosive force. 4lockbuster i eas similarly create a big impact - an hopefully on"t cause estruction like blockbuster bombs7

brownie points cre it for oing a goo ee or for giving someone a compliment 8usually a boss or teacher9

Example: (ara score brownie points with her boss by volunteering to organi3e the company"s holi ay party. *rigin: %he )unior branch of the 0irl (couts is calle the 4rownies. 4rownies earn cre it to then earn a ba ge by oing goo to a ults, the meaning is sarcastic. ee s an tasks. When applie

cash cow a pro uct, service, or business ivision that generates a lot of cash for the company, without requiring much investment Example: With strong sales every year an a great bran name, &erce es is a cash cow for +aimler,hrysler.

(to) cash in on to make money on; to benefit financially from Example: #amie *liver, star of the %: show %he $ake ,hef, cashed in on his popularity by writing cookbooks an opening restaurants.

(to) climb the corporate ladder a vance in one"s career; the process of getting promote an making it to senior management Example: ;ou want to climb the corporate ladder< !t helps to be pro uctive an to look goo in front of your boss.

(to) compare apples to oranges to compare two unlike things; to make an invali comparison Example: ,omparing a night at Econo1o ge with a night at the 6our (easons is like comparing apples to oranges. *ne is a bu get motel, an the other is a luxury hotel. $ote: ;ou will also see the relate expression /compare apples to apples/ which means to compare two things of the same type. %his means that you are making a vali comparison, as oppose to when you"re comparing apples to oranges.

crunch time a short perio when there"s high pressure to achieve a result Example: !t"s crunch time for stem cell researchers in =orea. $ew government regulations may soon make their work illegal.

dog-eat-dog world a cruel an aggressive worl in which people )ust look out for themselves Example: ;our company fire you shortly after you ha a heart attack< Well, it"s certainly a dog-eat-dog world7 *rigin: %his expression ates back to the >?@@"s. Wil ogs were observe fighting aggressively over a piece of foo . %he connection was ma e that people, like ogs, often compete aggressively to get what they want.

(to) dot your i's and cross your t's to be very careful; to pay attention to etails Example: When preparing financial statements, accuracy is very important. 4e sure to dot your i's and cross your t's.

(to) drum up business to create business; to fin new customers Example: (ales have been very slow lately. +o you have any i eas for drumming up business<

(to) face the music to a mit that there"s a problem; to eal with an unpleasant situation realistically Example: Enron executives finally ha to face the music an a mit that they were involve in some illegal activities.

(to) fast track a project to make a pro)ect a high priority; to spee up the time frame of a pro)ect Example: 1et"s fast track this project. We"ve hear rumors that our competitors are eveloping similar pro ucts.

(to) generate lots of buzz to cause many people to start talking about a pro uct or service, usually in a positive way that increases sales Example: 2rocter A 0amble generated lots of buzz for its new toothpaste by giving away free samples to people on the streets of $ew ;ork ,ity. $ote: /4u33/ is a popular wor for /attention./

8to) have a lot on one's plate to have a lot to o; to have too much to o; to have too much to cope with Example: ,arlos turne own the pro)ect, explaining that he alrea y had a lot on his plate.

$ote: %here is also the variation: to have too much on one"s plate.

(the) hard sell an aggressive way of selling Example: ,ar salesmen are famous for using the hard sell on their customers. $ote: %he opposite of /the har sell/ is /the soft sell,/ which is a sales technique using little or no pressure.

(to) jump the gun to start oing something too soon or ahea of everybo y else Example: %he company jumped the gun by releasing a new pro uct before the results of the consumer testing were in. *rigin: - runner /)umps the gun/ if he or she starts running before the starter"s pistol has been fire .

(to) jump through hoops to go through a lot of ifficult work for something; to face many bureaucratic obstacles Example: We ha to jump through hoops to get our visas to 5ussia, but we finally got them.

(to) keep one's eye on the prize

to stay focuse on the en result; to not let small problems get in the way of goo results Example: ! know it"s ifficult going to class after work, but )ust keep your eye on the prize. -t the en of next year, you"ll have your &4-. $ote: ;ou will also see the variation: keep one"s eyes on the pri3e.

(to) keep something under wraps to keep something secret; to not let anybo y know about a new pro)ect or plan Example: !"m sorry ! can"t tell you anything about the pro)ect !"m working on. &y boss tol me to keep it under wraps. $ote: /Wraps/ are things that provi e cover, so if something is /un er wraps/ it"s covere up an hi en.

mum's the word let"s keep quiet about this; ! agree not to tell anyone about this Example: 2lease on"t tell anybo y about our new pro)ect. 5emember: mum's the word7 *rigin: %he wor /mum/ comes from the murmur /mmmmm,/ the only soun you can make when your mouth is shut firmly. %ry making other soun s besi es /mmmmm/ with your lips an mouth shut firmly, an you will see that it"s impossible7

my gut tells me ! have a strong feeling that; my intuition tells me Example: !t"s true that ! on"t know him well, but my gut tells me that #ames is the right person for the sales irector position. $ote: %he /gut/ is both the intestines an stomach an also the innermost emotional response.

nothing ventured, nothing gained !f you on"t try to o something, you"ll never succee . Example: !t"s risky to spen so much money eveloping a new bran , but nothing ventured, nothing gaine .

on top of trends mo ern; aware an respon ing to the latest tastes Example: %he 0ap is on top of trends. %hey always have the latest styles in their stores.

(to) pass the buck to shift the blame; to blame somebo y else Example: !t"s your fault. +on"t try to pass the buck7 *rigin: %his expression comes from the worl of poker. !n the nineteenth century, a knife with a buckhorn han le 8the /buck/9 was passe to the next ealer when it was his turn to give out the car s.

(to) plug (a product) to promote a pro uct; to talk positively about a pro uct Example: -merican Express often hires famous people to plug their credit cards. $o won er people pay attention to their a s7

(to) pull one's weight to o one"s share of the work Example: +on"t rely on others to get your )ob one. ;ou nee to pull your own weight. $ote: ;ou will also hear the variation: to pull one"s own weight.

(to) pull the plug to put a stop to a pro)ect or initiative, usually because it"s not going well; to stop something from moving forwar ; to iscontinue Example: -fter losing millions of ollars rilling for oil in $ebraska an fin ing nothing, the oil company finally pulled the plug on its exploration pro)ect. *rigin: %his expression refers to removing a plug to make something stop working - when you pull the plug out of the wall, your appliance oesn"t work. !n the >Bth century, when this term originate , the plug was for a toilet. %o flush the toilet, you ha to pull out a plug.

(to) put a stake in the ground to take the first step; to make a big move to get something starte ; to make a commitment Example: *ur business in ,alifornia has grown stea ily over the past two years. $ow is the time to put a stake in the ground an open a regional office there.

(to) rally the troops to motivate others; to get other people excite about oing something; to o something to improve the morale of the employees an get them energi3e about oing their work Example: -fter the lay-offs an salary cuts, the airline presi ent organi3e a meeting to rally the troops an plan for the next year. $ote: %he verb /to rally/ has several efinitions, but in this case means to /call together for a common goal or purpose./ %roops is an informal way of escribing a group of employees. %he term comes from the military - a troop is a military unit.

reality check let"s think realistically about this situation 8sai when you on"t like something that"s being suggeste because you on"t think the other person is thinking practically or logically9 Example: ;ou think we can start selling our pro ucts through our website next month< %ime for a reality check7 $obo y at our company knows anything about e-commerce.

(to) scale back one's hours to re uce the number of hours one works Example: When ,hristine ha a baby, she eci e to scale back her hours an )ust work part-time. (ynonym: to cut back one"s hours

Shape up or ship out improve your behavior or leave; if you on"t improve your performance, you"re going to get fire Example: &artin finally ha enough of %o "s negative attitu e. / Shape up or ship out / he tol %o . *rigin: %his expression was first use in the '.(. military uring Worl War %wo, meaning: you" better follow regulations an behave yourself 8/shape up/9, or you"re going to be sent overseas to a war 3one 8/ship out/9.

8to9 step up to the plate to take action; to o one"s best; to volunteer Example: We nee somebo y to be in charge of organi3ing the company holi ay party. Who" like to step up to the plate an start working on this pro)ect< $ote: %his expression comes from baseball. ;ou step up to the plate 8a plastic mat on the groun 9 when it"s your turn to hit the ball.

8to) throw cold water over (an idea, a plan) to present reasons why something will not work; to iscourage Example: 2at presente her boss with a plan to expan their business into ,hina, but he t hrew cold water over her plan an tol her to )ust focus on eveloping business in the 'nite (tates. $ote: ;ou will also hear the variation: to throw col water on.

though the roof very high; higher than expecte Example: $o won er people are complaining about the cost of heating their homes. *il prices have gone through the roof7

(to) turn around one's business to make a business profitable again; to go from not making profits to being profitable again Example: %he telecom company was able to turn around its business by eveloping a popular new line of services.

(to) work down to the wire to work until the last minute; to work until )ust before the ea line Example: %he investment bankers nee to turn in their report at B a.m. tomorrow morning, an they"ve still got many hours of work left on it. %hey"re going to be working down to the wire. $ote: %his expression comes from horse racing. !n the >Bth century, -merican racetracks place wire across the track above the finish line. %he wire helpe etermine which horse"s nose crosse the line first. !f a race was / own to the wire,/ it was a very close race, un eci e until the very last secon .

(to) work out the (or some) kinks to solve the problems with Example: %he company announce that they will elay the launch of their new pro uct by two weeks. %hey still nee to work out the kinks with their packaging process.

$ote: - /kink/ is a problem or flaw in a system or plan.

yes man an employee who always agrees with the boss or oes whatever the boss says Example: +on"t expect 1arry to argue with the boss. !e's a yes man.