体育运动和游戏中深藏不漏的商务习语

Business English is full of idioms that can often confuse non-native speakers of English. It’s therefore important to cover some of these idioms with English learners.

As a Business English trainer I often have a session on idiomatic expressions with my clients so that they can feel more comfortable in their meeting and negotiations with native speakers.

Idioms are often classed under topics like animals, food, parts of the body, sports and so on.

In this post, I’d like to explore the strong relationship that exists between sports and business. If you look at the qualities that sports and business share, you’ll begin to see why Business English has so many sports and games idioms.

Both Business and Sports:

require certain skills

are competitive

need self- confidence

take planning

use strategies and tactics

take concentration

teamwork may be important

Having established their similarities, let’s take a look at ten idioms we use, in what situations and what sport they relate to.

1. To keep your cards close to your chest – don’t reveal your plans

Ex: I kept my cards close to my chest during the negotiation. (Card games)

2. Poker-faced – expressionless (comes from the game of poker where you must not let your face reveal whether you have a good or bad card)

Ex: The clients sat poker-faced all through my sales pitch. It was so unnerving. (Poker)

3. Knock sb for six – to shock or upset someone very much, or to make someone very ill

Ex: Jenny has just announced that she’s leaving which has knocked me for six. I really enjoyed working with her. (Ball Games)

4. Play one’s trump card – use the advantage especially when others do not know about it

Ex: The CEO played his trump card by promising a dividend payout at the shareholders’ meeting. (Card Game)

5. A whole new ball game – a completely different situation

Ex: This is a whole new ball game if we’re talking about expanding the business. (Ball Games)

6. To play hard ball – to be so determined to get what you want that you will use unfair methods to get it.

Ex: The people here like to play hard ball which can be very challenging. (Ball Games)

7. Don’t pull any punches – speak in an honest and direct way without being tactful

Ex: The CEO didn’t pull any punch when he told the board that the company was in trouble. (Boxing)

8. Below the belt – an unfair attack (in boxing that is not allowed)

Ex: There was no need to mention my personal problems to the press. That was below the belt. (Boxing)

9. Throw in the towel – giving up and admitting defeat

Ex: I think we need to accept things as they are and throw in the towel before we lose any more money. (Boxing)

10. Hold all the cards – to be in a strong position

Ex: Management found that the trade union held all the cards during the pay talks. (Card Games)

A good way to familiarize yourself with other sports idioms is to type in a sport in a search engine and look for examples of idioms linked to that sport and how they are used in business. Select the ones you like and are likely to use and try using them with native speakers. Look out for them in articles and advertisements so that you see these idioms used in context.