Americans like results.
And there a lot of idiomatic expressions that we use in everyday business discussions to talk about results.
We don’t even realize that other people probably don’t understand these expressions.
So how can you know when your American colleagues are talking about results
when they use these expressions?
And more importantly,
how can you understand what they mean?
I’m Christina and you’re watching Speak Better, Feel Great TV.
The place to boost your English and boost your career.
in this video I'm gonna show you
5
very common business idioms Americans use
to talk about getting results.
Ya ready?
Before we jump in and get started
there’s a bonus idiom.
jump in and get started…
It means “before we begin”.
So,
before we jump in and get started,
here are the 5 idioms that you’ll understand after this video
Cut to the chase
at the end of the day
the bottom line
Let’s wrap this up
A win-win situation
“Cut to the chase”.
This means
“stop giving so many details.
Tell me the essential message”.
Imagine, you’re presenting the background of a situation and Bob the big American says
“OK, Jean-François, that’s important and all, but cut to the chase.”
He wants you to tell him the present situation, what’s important now.
“At the end of the day”.
This means
“in the end”, or “ultimately.
In a discussion with Bob the big American, you may hear
“That’s interesting information, but at the end of the day,
we still don’t have a concrete result.”
“The bottom line.”
This means “the final result”
This expression comes from the finance world.Where literally,
you can see how much money you have on the bottom line of your balance sheet,
after calculating profits
and your losses.
In everyday business discussion, it means the result.
Imagine
you present the details of a problem.
Bob the big American may ask
“So, what’s the bottom line?”
He wants to know
“What’s the result of all these problems”
or
what’s the present situation.
“Let’s wrap this up”.
This means
"Let’s finish”.
You’ll probably hear this expression
at the end of a meeting,
when Bob the big American says
“OK, let’s wrap this up,
just before summarizing the action plan decided in the meeting.
“A win-win situation”.
A win-win situation is one where
everyone is happy and the results
and the outcome is beneficial to everyone involved
For example,
a merger that is good for both of the companies that merge
is a win-win situation.
We Americans like consensus, so we’ll probably say
“Let’s look for a win-win situation.”
Now, its time to wrap up this video.
Here’s your Speak Better, Feel Great challenge for this week:
In your conversations with your Americans,
listen carefully to see if they use any of these expressions.
and now
you’ll understand what they mean!
then come back and In the comments section below,
tell us which expressions you heard.
We’ll see which one is the MOST common expression.
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I’m Christina, from Speak Better, Feel Great TV.
See ya next time!