30 Common Business English Expressions you need to know to improve your Business English Communication skills.  in this lesson you will learn over  30 Common Business English Expressions, their definition and how to use them when speaking in English!

Below you will find the list of the 30 common Business English Expressions we went through in the lesson:

a tough break
when something unfortunate happens

back to the drawing board
to start something over and go back to the planning stage.

24/7
“24/7” means 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

behind the scenes

Something that happens in secret or not in front of the general public

change of pace

something different from a normal routine or schedule.

come up short
to try to achieve something but fail. 

big picture
Everything that is involved with a particular situation is called “the big picture.”

fifty-fifty
“Fifty-fifty” means something is divided equally 

ahead of the curve
to be more advanced than the competition.

by the book
 to do things according to company policy or the law. It means to follow the rules 100%.

back to square one
 to start something over again.

ahead of the pack
to be better or more successful than the competition.

call it a day
to decide to stop working for the day.

ASAP
an acronym for “as soon as possible.”

from the ground up
when you start a business, project, or something else from zero

go broke
 to go bankrupt or to lose all the money a person or business had.
go down the drain

When someone wastes or loses something

go the extra mile

 to do more than what people expect.

go through the roof

 rapidly increasing. 

gray area

 something that is undefined and not easily categorized. 

at stake
“At stake” means at risk. 

catch someone off guard
 to surprise someone by doing something that he or she was not expecting.

cave (or cave in)
 to give in or agree to something that someone previously did not want to accept.

cut corners
to take shortcuts and find an easier or cheaper way to do something.

cut one’s losses
 to stop doing something that is unproductive and won’t ever generate results.

A blue collar worker

 someone who works with his hands (manufacturing, construction, maintenance, etc.).

A white-collar worker 

someone who works in an office (customer service, management, sales, etc.).

think big
to have ambitious goals and big plans for the future.

think outside the box
 to think of creative, unconventional solutions instead of common ones.

uphill battle
Something that is difficult to achieve because of obstacles and difficulties