Business English idioms connected to nature
Everyone loves a good trip into the countryside to enjoy nature and so here are 10 of the best business English idioms which are connected to the natural world around us!
Let’s learn these colourful expressions to enrich your speech at work and start mastering the English language like a native!
1) Head in the clouds
Definition: If someone has their head in the clouds then they are impractical or unrealistic and are out of touch with the everyday world.
Example: “He always has his head in the clouds! None of his ideas are practical or realistic!”
2) Beat about the bush
Definition: To beat about the bush means to avoid talking about the core of the subject, usually because the core of the subject is very negative or taboo.
Example: “The boss won’t tell us the truth about what is happening with redundancies, she keeps beating around the bush whenever I ask her about it”.
3) Blue sky thinking
Definition: Creative Thinking that is not limited to commonly accepted norms or beliefs.
Example: We’re a tech company looking to create the next big thing, so we need developers who specialize in blue-sky thinking“.
4) Up in the air
Definition: If something is up in the air, it means that it is uncertain or undecided.
Example: “We don’t know what is happening with our Amsterdam office at the moment, it’s all up in the air“.
5) Come rain or shine
Definition: If you are going to do something come rain or shine, it means that you will do something no matter what difficulties you may face.
Example: “We’ll meet the project deadline come rain or shine“.
6) Calm before the storm
Definition: A period of quiet and peacefulness before a difficult or challenging situation.
Example: “The fiscal year results were very poor, today feels like the calm before the storm of the annual shareholders meeting tomorrow!”
7) Drop in the ocean
Definition: A very small amount compared to the amount needed.
Example: “Its great we’ve got the contract with that new company but it’s a drop in the ocean to what we need to cover our monthly expenditure”.
8) Make hay while the sun shines
Definition: To make hay while the sun shines is to take advantage of a current positive situation while it lasts.
Example: “Our main competitor has just gone bankrupt! So let’s make hay while the sun shines and really try to take their market share!”
9) To make a mountain out of a molehill
Definition: To exaggerate or make a small problem seem much larger or more significant than it actually is.
Example: “He’s always making a mountain out of a molehill, focusing too much on really small problems”
10) Can’t see the wood for the trees
Definition: To focus too much on small details and so do not see the big picture and what is important about the task as a whole
Example: “He’s always focusing on the small problems and not seeing the wood for the trees, such as the deadline’s next week!
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