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10 Business Idioms You'll Hear in Every Meeting
10 min
B1
Free
Why idioms matter at work
You can speak grammatically perfect English and still feel lost in a meeting because half the conversation uses idioms. These aren't slang — they're standard business English used by everyone from interns to CEOs. You need to recognise them, and using a few yourself makes you sound fluent.
The essential 10
"Get the ball rolling" — Lancer le processus / Mettre les choses en marche
"Let's get the ball rolling on the new campaign." = Let's start.
"Let's get the ball rolling on the new campaign." = Let's start.
"On the same page" — Sur la même longueur d'onde
"Are we all on the same page?" = Does everyone agree / understand the same thing?
"Are we all on the same page?" = Does everyone agree / understand the same thing?
"Back to square one" — Retour à la case départ
"The client rejected the proposal — we're back to square one." = Starting over.
"The client rejected the proposal — we're back to square one." = Starting over.
"Think outside the box" — Sortir des sentiers battus / Penser différemment
"We need to think outside the box on this one." = Be creative, try unconventional approaches.
"We need to think outside the box on this one." = Be creative, try unconventional approaches.
"Touch base" — Faire le point / Se mettre en contact
"Let's touch base next week." = Let's have a quick check-in. Very common in emails.
"Let's touch base next week." = Let's have a quick check-in. Very common in emails.
"The bottom line" — L'essentiel / Le résultat final
"The bottom line is we need more budget." = The most important point is. Originally from accounting.
"The bottom line is we need more budget." = The most important point is. Originally from accounting.
"A win-win" — Gagnant-gagnant
"This deal is a win-win for both sides." = Everyone benefits. French borrowed this one.
"This deal is a win-win for both sides." = Everyone benefits. French borrowed this one.
"Keep me in the loop" — Tiens-moi au courant
"Please keep me in the loop on the client situation." = Keep me informed / updated.
"Please keep me in the loop on the client situation." = Keep me informed / updated.
"Cut corners" — Bâcler / Faire des économies de bouts de chandelle
"We can't cut corners on quality." = We can't take shortcuts that reduce quality.
"We can't cut corners on quality." = We can't take shortcuts that reduce quality.
"Bite the bullet" — Prendre le taureau par les cornes / Se lancer
"We need to bite the bullet and raise prices." = Do something difficult that you've been avoiding.
"We need to bite the bullet and raise prices." = Do something difficult that you've been avoiding.
How to learn idioms
Don't memorise 100 idioms. Learn 10, use them for a month, then learn 10 more. Using one idiom naturally in a meeting is worth more than recognising 50 passively. Start with these 10 — they cover 80% of meeting idiom usage.