“In our company, we leverage innovative synergies that uniquely optimise ground-breaking interactive cutting-edge technologies in strategic partnerships.”
Huh? Que? Co? 什么？
Business English can be tough to understand. It’s almost as if people in business are trying to hide a lack of real ideas under piles of meaningless words.
But sometimes these phrases do have real meanings. And if you spend long enough looking at common phrases in the English-speaking business world, you might notice a pattern: lots of things people say are actually metaphorical uses of things in the physical world.
What do I mean by that? Take a look at the examples below – my top 10 business English metaphors.
Silos
Traditionally, a silo is a large, long cylindrical container for stuff like grains and missiles, keeping them well contained. So in business, the word is often used to talk about departments that aren’t communicating well with one another.
“The engineering and customer service teams are thinking in silos about how to solve this problem, but they need to work together to come up with a more thorough, customer-centric approach.”
Cash cow
Think of a dairy cow that reliably produces lots of milk. A cash cow, then, is a mature business that produces steady profits.
“The long term success of our software business has turned it into a cash cow that finances research and development in other verticals.” What’s a “vertical”, you ask? Read on, my friend…
Vertical
Normally, “vertical” is the opposite of horizontal; it’s something that goes up and down. In business, this word can be used as a noun to refer to a specific sector – like the hotel industry, or the publishing industry.
“Some people say we should focus our efforts on one product for one kind of customer, but our company has always excelled in producing solutions for several verticals.”
Glass ceiling
This is the (often invisible) barrier to career advancement faced by some members of the workforce. The phrase was first used to describe obstacles faced by women, who could see the top of the career ladder but would hit the glass ceiling before they got there. But the phrase can also be used in reference to other groups that face obstacles.
“While women are beginning to outnumber men in many professions, the persistent glass ceiling put in place by our patriarchal power structure keeps women out of most executive positions.”
Asset liquidity
Finance people, this one’s for you. A liquid ?, of course, can change shape easily. In financial terms, “liquid” basically means cash, or the ease with which an asset (something of value) can be turned into cash and then used for other purposes.
“Let’s examine the liquidity of our current assets to see if we can produce enough cash to acquire this smaller company.”
Under water
Continuing with the financial theme here. This phrase was often used during and after the mortgage crisis of 2008, when many people owned homes whose value was less than what they owed on their mortgage. As a result, millions of people were said to be “under water”, because selling their assets (or “liquefying” them) could not get them out of debt.
“Despite working hard and saving money, Mr. Williams lost his job and could not longer pay his mortgage. But because of the crash in house prices, he found himself under water.” A bit dark, this one.
To table something
Careful, this one’s tricky because it can have opposite meanings in British versus American English. Generally in the UK, if you "table an idea", you’re opening it up for debate. This comes from parliamentary procedure where someone would literally place a bill on a table in order to begin debating it. In the US, if you table something, you’re setting it aside to consider later. Beware, though, because in the UK, sometimes this phrase can take the American meaning, particularly when one says something like "let's table this discussion for later", which means "let's put this off for another time". Also: in both American and British English, if an idea is “on the table”, it’s valid and can be considered; if it’s “off the table”, it can’t be done.
This one can confuse even native speakers, so maybe it’s best avoided… unless you WANT to confuse people, which in business, of course, is often the intention.
“We need to start moving some products, so let’s table some marketing ideas to help increase our sales.” (That would be UK usage.)
Touch base
This is slightly more American than British, mostly because it’s a baseball metaphor. In baseball, when you’re standing on one of the 3 bases, you’re generally “safe” and you have a moment to relax and collect your thoughts. So you might say you’re touching base with someone when you take time to catch up and discuss everything that’s been going on.
“I’ve been on the road meeting clients all week, so we need to schedule a time soon to touch base and discuss those sales targets.”
Low-hanging fruit ?
This is an easy one – the apples hanging on low branches that you can easily pick and enjoy. So low-hanging fruit in business refers to quick, easy wins.
“The first few customers for our new product have been working with us for years, so they were the low-hanging fruit – but getting the product into the hands of more new clients will be a greater challenge.”
Bandwidth
We often talk about bandwidth when we talk about the quality of our internet connection, or how much data we can squeeze through it. But you can also refer to a person’s bandwidth when you talk about how much time or mental capacity they have to take on certain responsibilities.
“She’s already the head of the busy engineering department – she doesn’t have the bandwidth to take on these additional tasks.”
OK — now go synergise! ?? Find your Business English teacher here.