Business Expressions

Business expressions Business English English

English materials by Veronica Gilhooly © Learnwell Oy 2008

www.thelanguagemenu.com Business expressions

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1. I thought this time things were going to be better. Losing the contract was _________________ to swallow.

a. bottom line b. blue collar c. a bitter pill d. back to the drawing board. e. blow-by-blow

2. We've lost the contract thanks to your incompetence.

You really _________________, didn't you? a. back to the drawing board. b. bottlenecks c. bottom line d. blue collar e. blew it

3. I'd be better off stopping my legal job and doing jobs for cash. The

_________________ is the only way to make money these days. a. blow-by-blow b. back to the drawing board. c. bottlenecks d. black economy e. bottom line

4. The product didn't work in the States. As they say there, it really

_________________. a. back to the drawing board. b. bottlenecks c. bombed d. blow-by-blow e. bottom line




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5. However, the same product sold really well in England. As they say there,

it _________________. a. back to the drawing board. b. bottlenecks c. bottom line d. blue collar e. went like a bomb

6. He used to work on the factory floor. Yes, he really started out as a

_________________worker. a. blue collar b. back to the drawing board. c. bottlenecks d. bottom line e. blow-by-blow

7. There are many reasons why this should be a

success. However, the _________________ is that it has been a big flop. a. bottom line b. back to the drawing board. c. bottlenecks d. blow-by-blow e. a bitter pill

8. Production has been unable to keep pace with demand. We are doing our

best to eliminate the _________________. a. blow-by-blow b. back to the drawing board. c. blew it d. a bitter pill e. bottlenecks




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9. We'll have to start again on this one -it's time to go _________________ . a. blow-by-blow b. blew it c. black economy d. bombed e. back to the drawing board.

10. Don't leave out any details. I want a full _________________ account of

what happened in the meeting. a. blow-by-blow b. blew it c. black economy d. bombed e. went like a bomb

11. At the start of the meeting everybody was very quiet and reserved but he

told a few jokes to_________________. a. across the board b. break the ice c. broke the news d. back to the drawing board e. take on board

12. He's not very quick on the uptake. It takes him quite a while to

_________________ new ideas. a. on to a good thing b. take on board c. bullish d. breathing down e. brief

13. We're going to have to reduce budgets in every single department. There

will be _________________ cuts. a. back to the drawing board b. brief c. on to a good thing d. brainstorm e. across the board




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14. My boss never gives me any freedom. She's always _________________ my neck. a. broke the news b. brief c. breathing down d. back to the drawing board e. bullish

15. We need a name for our new brand. The best thing is to get a few people

together and try to _________________ a name. a. brief b. on to a good thing c. broke the news d. bullish e. brainstorm

16. I'm very happy with our sales prospects for the next year. I'm feeling

really _________________ . a. bullish b. back to the drawing board c. broke the news d. on to a good thing e. brief

17. We would have liked to have looked at that but that wasn't part of the

_________________ you sent us. a. brief b. on to a good thing c. back to the drawing board d. breathing down e. broke the news

18. I've heard all about it. Sally _________________ to me.

a. brainstorm b. on to a good thing c. back to the drawing board d. breathing down e. broke the news




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19. I'm well aware that this is potentially a good new product and that we are

probably _________________ with it a. on to a good thing b. back to the drawing board c. brainstorm d. breathing down e. across the board

20. I guess this market study shows that nobody wants to buy our product.

It's _________________ for us. a. back to the drawing board b. brainstorm c. breathing down d. across the board e. take on board

21. I reckon we owe you about the same as you owe us. Why don't we just

_________________ ? a. call his bluff b. called it a day c. calls the shots d. chicken e. call it quits

22. We've been working on this for fourteen hours now. Isn't it time we

_________________? a. called it a day b. call it quits c. calls the shots d. chicken e. call his bluff




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23. Let's face it, he decides. He's the boss so he's the one that _________________ . a. called it a day b. calls the shots c. call it quits d. chicken e. call his bluff

24. He says he will go elsewhere if we don't lower our price but I don't think

he will. I think we should _________________. a. call his bluff b. call it quits c. called it a day d. calls the shots e. chicken

25. I'm sure that there is a lot of corruption in that country. If we order an

internal audit we may be opening _________________ . a. carry the can b. chicken c. can't win d. chicken and egg e. a can of worms

26. Someone is going to have to take responsibility for this disaster. Who is

going to _________________ . a. can't win b. carry the can c. chicken e. chicken and egg




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27. Whatever we do, we are going to come out badly. It's a

_________________ situation. a. a can of worms b. carry the can c. chicken d. can't win e. chicken and egg

28. She always like to think things through very carefully. She likes to

_________________ . a. chicken and egg b. chicken c. chew things over d. call his bluff e. call it quits

29. We need a loan to start the company and we need a company to get the

loan. It's a _________________ situation. a. calls the shots b. chew things over c. chicken d. call his bluff e. chicken and egg

30. We wanted to expand into Asia but we were a bit frightened. We were

soon sorry for being so _________________ . a. chicken and egg b. chicken c. calls the shots d. chew things over e. call it quits




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31. I imagine their company jet was very expensive indeed. It probably _________________ . a) cost the earth b) clear the decks c) cut it fine d) cut-throat 32. Our Silicone Valley site is right at the _________________ of the new technology. a) cut our losses b) cutting edge c) cut it fine d) cut-throat 33. There's lots of unfair competition in our sector from _________________ outfits which don't respect the law. a) crocodile tears b) crashed c) cowboy d) cough up 34. We did badly in the Japanese market so eventually we decided to _________________ and stop. a) cut our losses b) cough up c) clear the decks d) cut-throat 35. We had to threaten them with legal action before they agreed to _________________ the money they owed us. a) crocodile tears b) cough up c) cut our losses d) clear the decks




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36. We'll have to drop everything else. We'll have to _________________ and concentrate on this. a) clear the decks b) crashed c) cut it fine d) cut-throat 37. Competition is really fierce. In fact, it's _________________. a) crocodile tears b) crashed c) cut it fine d) cut-throat 38. Bids had to be in by 6.00 and we put ours in ten minutes before the deadline. We really _________________. a) crocodile tears b) cut it fine c) cut our losses d) crashed 39. We can't access the computer files. The system _________________ this morning and we cannot fix it. a) crocodile tears b) cutting edge c) cut our losses d) crashed 40. He said he was sorry about letting me go but I'm sure they were only _________________ he was shedding. a) crocodile tears b) cutting edge c) cut our losses d) cost the earth




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41. I’ve got to learn English fast. I need a real _________________ to get me up to speed quickly. a) crash course b) closing a deal c) coining it in d) chew this over 42. The genuine results for the year were pretty bad but thanks to _________________ we made them look OK! a) copped out b) cog in the machine c) keep a cool head d) creative accounting

43. You did it too fast. You always make mistakes when you try to_________________ a) cut corners b) closing a deal c) coining it in d) chew this over

44. I'm sure a lot of our future income is going to come from the Internet and other _________________ activities. a) copped out b) cyberspace c) keep a cool head d) chew this over 45. I'm not an important person in this company. I'm just a lowly _________________. a) keep a cool head b) closing a deal c) coining it in d) cog in the machine




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46. Their products are really selling well. They must be _________________. a) copped out b) closing a deal c) coining it in d) chew this over 47. Stop getting so angry. You really need to _________________ and control your temper. a) closing a deal b) chew this over c) copped out d) keep a cool head 48. I cannot decide straight away. I'll need to _________________ with my colleagues . a) cog in the machine b) chew this over c) copped out d) closing a deal 49. He isn't a very good salesman. He has a lot of problem when it comes to _________________. a) cog in the machine b) copped out c) cyberspace d) closing a deal 50. She didn't even try to raise the matter at the meeting. She just _________________ completely. a) crash course b) copped out c) cut corners d) creative accounting

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