- "Who'd like to step up to the plate and start working on this assignment?", asked the team leader.
- I don't mind stepping up to the plate for a lucrative project like this.
Meaning:
To take action; To do one's best; To volunteer.
- "Boss threw cold water on Ben's plan by presenting some figures which he couldn't deny."
- I didn't have a choice but to throw cold water on his idea of expansion into the Middle-East. It is ridiculous when there has been hardly any cash-flow this year.
Meaning:
To present reasons why something will not work; to discourage.
Examples of this idiom:
- I can't afford a car anymore. Oil prices have gone through the roof!
- Statistics indicate the crime rate in our country has gone through the roof.
Meaning:
Very high; higher than expected (especially prices).
- Stop praising the newspaper classifieds and put your money where your mouth is instead.
- If you're so certain that you'll win the lottery, why don't you put your money where your mouth is?
Meaning:
To be willing to bet or invest your money in something you support or believe in.
- The telecom company found different ways to turn around their business. They introduced five new products in a single month.
- This site teaches you how to turn around your business when it is failing.
Meaning:
To make a business profitable again; to go from not making profits to being profitable again;
- They had to work down to the wire to finish this metro railway project on time.
- If you don't put enough effort now, working down to the wire can cause a lot of stress later.
Meaning:
To work until the last minute; to work until just before the deadline;
- The project can't be delivered by this month-end. The company still needs to work out the kinks with their final stage.
- Drew is the only guy who could work out some kinks from this mess.
Meaning:
To solve the problems with; to work out solutions for; to get rid of some obstacles in;
- Bill is a yes man. Don't expect him to talk about the problem to Mary.
- Just 'cos I'm the boss doesn't mean you gotta agree. I don't want any one of you to be a 'yes man' type.
Meaning:
An employee who always agrees with the boss or does whatever the boss says.
Examples of this idiom:
- It was touch and go for a while, but the vet says my cat will live.
- Seems like a touch and go commitment, how do you expect to pay back such a huge sum?
Meaning:
Very risky, uncertain, or critical.
Can be used for: criticality, danger, risk, t, uncertainty
- He got fired 'cos he was a loose cannon and caused everybody a lot of trouble.
- "Don't be such a loose cannon," exclaimed Martha, "We had already decided the wedding would be this October, didn't we!?."
Meaning:
A person who is unpredictable and sometimes out of control.
Can be used for: cannon, control, l, loose, unpredictable
- Sarah's uncle is an international business tycoon who wheels and deals all over the globe.
- We gotta reach a stage where we wheel and deal in every state to feel our oats.
Meaning:
To skillfully and aggressively make big plans with important business, usually to earn a lot of money
- Look, we're all in the same boat, and we've got to work together.
- The financial recession has restricted my investment options too. We all are sailing in the same boat.
Meaning:
In the same bad situation; sharing the same problem or difficulty.
Can be used for: boat, commonality, difficulty, i, problem
- Gillian's suggestion, a "dress as your favorite vegetable" party was way out in left field.
- At this stage, a marketing budget like that is definitely out in the left field.
Meaning:
Unusual; crazy; totally wrong.
- When the counselor left, we had a pillow fight. When the cat's away, the mice will play.
- The convicts started their fights as soon as the jailer left. When the cat's away, the mice will play.
Meaning:
When the person in charge is absent, people will usually do as they please and take advantage of the freedom.
- I've tried everything to make this relationship work. I think I'm at the end of my rope now.
- We've reached the end of our ropes. This project's over.
Meaning:
A the limit of your ability, endurance, or patience to do something.
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