Ten Business English Expressions You Need To Know

1) Flat out = being very busy

- I'll be flat out next week because there's a new shipment arriving.
- I've been flat out all week, I am exhausted!

2) Train of thought = when you forget what you were saying after an interruption
- Oh! I've lost my train of thought! What was I talking about?
- My mum called and completely disrupted my train of thought.
- Can I ask you a question? Just give me a minute, I don't want to disrupt my
train of thought.

3) Get back on track = get back to the point where things were happening as they
should be)
- We miss the deadline last week, but we have just submitted the report now,
so we are getting back on track.
- Are you on track to complete the report by the end of the week?

4) Off track = it is used when a person or a group of people have become distracted
from their main purpose. They lost their focus.
- We are getting off track here, guys. We've only got 10 more minutes left and
we need to confirm the marketing budget.
- Sorry, I'm getting off track.
- It's difficult to stay on track with so many disruptions, perhaps we should
move to the conference room.
- I don't want to get off track, but we can all agree that the new marketing
manager is difficult to get along with.
- We should have completed the work by now, but the team got off track with
some technical issues.

5) To bank on = means to bet that something will happen in a certain way. To be

really sure or confident that something will happen.
- It can be used also in a negative way, often advising someone against
something.
- I'm banking on Sarah to get a promotion, so that I can apply for her position.
- I wouldn't bank on it.

6) To brush up on = to update or improve your skills

- I need to brush up on these skills. I am willing to practice or study to improve
these skills.
- I'm brushing up on my Italian, because I've got a business trip in July.
- I got the job at the publishing company! But I really need to brush up on my
editing skills, I’m out of practice!
7) To bring something to the table = means to provide something that will be of
benefit. Something useful. And it's often used in a professional context to
describe the skills or experience that someone brings to a team or to a company.
- The great thing about Sam is that she brings years of management
experience to the table.
- He brings excellent communication skills and award-winning design
experience to the table.
- What have you brought to the table? (It means what suggestions or ideas did
you bring to the meeting, can you offer to the people in the meeting)

8) To bring up = It means to mention or introduce a topic.

- I'll bring up with Stephanie when I see her next week.
- Our presentation is missing some key points. So I'm going to bring it up with
the team tomorrow, we can spend some more time on it.

9) To turn down = It means to say no to something or refuse something.

- They offered me tickets to the conference, but I had to turn them down
because it's my son's birthday.
- He turned it down because they offered him the promotion, but told him
they couldn't increase his salary.
- I applied for the position but then I found out I had to spend 6 months of the
year living in New Zealand. So I had to turn them down.

10) Wing it = suggests that you didn't really plan it to be that way for some reason,
you're under-prepared.
- My presentation is on my laptop, which I left at home. I'll just have to wing
it.
- If you haven't received the notes, you'll just have to wing it.

11) Off-the-cuff = you're doing something without preparing for it but you're kind of
comfortable with that, you're cool with that.
- I wish that I was confident enough to make presentations off-the-cuff, I spent
so much time for our monthly board meeting.
- Paul won an award last night and made a fantastic speech, totally off-the-
cuff!