Global Conversation: Working Together
Phrases/ Idioms
Sleep on it / Take some time to think about something; leave it until the next day to make a decision / “I don’t think we’ve reached agreement yet; let’s sleep on it and make a decision tomorrow.”Give somebody a hand / Help someone with something / “I’m struggling with this assignment; could you give me a hand?”
With flying colours / Do something very successfully / “We’ve put so much work into this project, we should pass with flying colours!” / (Naval expression: “colour = small flag”)
Cut someone short / Interrupt someone / “I’m sorry to cut you short, but I just wanted to check I understood that first point you made.”
Dead set against / To be completely decided against something. / “I know you want to make a poster but I’m dead set against it – I think it will be a waste of our time.”
Keep someone posted/in the loop / Keep someone updated about something / “I’ll ask our tutor what we should do and keep you posted about what he says.”
“That’s great; just be sure to keep us all in the loop.”
Sit on the fence / Not to have a clear opinion in a debate. / “It’s frustrating: David and Matt have clear ideas on this but Chris is sitting on the fence.”
In two minds / Not sure of your opinion – be unable to make a decision. / “I’m in two minds about whether we should include this in the presentation.”
Get the ball rolling / Get started on something. / “Shall we get the ball rolling by deciding which topic we want to focus on?”
Draw a blank / To be unable to think of something / “How do you think we should start this project?”
“I have no idea, I’m drawing a blank right now!”
Fight a losing battle / Try to do something when there is no (or little) hope of succeeding. / “You can debate with him for hours, but you’re fighting a losing battle – he will never change his mind!”
Put/throw a spanner in the works / Prevent the success of something, or highlight a problem that will prevent the success of something. / “I’m sorry to put a spanner in the works but there isn’t enough time to carry out that research.” / (From factory workers deliberately stopping machinery to bring work to a halt)
Get (straight) to the point / Talk about the most important matter first, instead of having a more general or less important conversation first. / “I think we should get straight to the point and decide what topic we will focus on.”
Knock it on the head / To stop doing something abruptly / “I don’t think that last bit of research is worth doing; let’s knock it on the head.”
Play it by ear / To decide how to deal with a situation as it happens, rather than planning in advance. / “We don’t know what kind of questions they will ask, so we will have to play that part of the presentation by ear.” / (Musical expression: playing an instrument without reading the musical score)
On the tip of your tongue / Be unable to remember the word/name of something, but feel that you are very close to remembering it. / “What was the name of that book we had to read? It’s on the tip of my tongue; I’m sure I will remember it in a minute.”
‘Pros’ and ‘cons’ / Advantages and disadvantages / “I think we should assess the pros and cons of this plan before we start work.” / (Latin: from the two sides in a debate – ‘for’ and ‘against’)
Go round in circles / To keep discussing a point without reaching a decision. / “We’ve been working on this part of the presentation for two days now: I think we’re just going round in circles.”