|
| Saying | Meaning | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 20-20 hindsight | perfect knowledge but too late | ||
| (someone is) the 800 pound gorilla | most important party to a transaction/or in a group | ||
| a lick and a promise | incomplete or limited preparation | ||
| a rising tide that lifts all boats | something that benefits all (Pres. Kennedy) | ||
| an Old (China. Japan, etc. ) Hand | someone with long experience in the place | ||
| at loggerheads | disagreement | ||
| at the 11th hour | at the last minute | ||
| base-tending | protecting one's assets | ||
| begin on a shoestring | start with limited finances | ||
| bootstrapped | develop by yourself without outside support | ||
| both sides of the aisle | from politics, Involving both parties | ||
| bring to the table | what you offer to a transaction | ||
| cake walk | easily accomplished | ||
| carve out a niche | find a special position to monopolize | ||
| Catch 22 | what ever you do, it won't work (Joseph Heller book) | ||
| Chinese wall | separation between two parts of same unit | ||
| computer virus or ÒbugÓ | software corruption | ||
| deep pockets | wealthy; has ability to pay | ||
| do you read me? | do you understand (military communications) | ||
| dog and pony show | financial presentation | ||
| don't make waves | don't disagree or contradict policy | ||
| down in the dumps | depressed | ||
| downtime | period when equipment isn't available to perform | ||
| draw a line in the sand | make final conditions that cannot be changed | ||
| featherbedding | a job that is not necessary (union term) | ||
| fence-mending | apology; smoothing bad relations | ||
| free ride | obtaining benefit for no cost | ||
| from Day One | from the beginning | ||
| from scratch | from the beginning | ||
| goal-tending | protecting one's assets | ||
| going great guns | doing well | ||
| hacker | computer expert breaking into a system | ||
| hold feet to fire | force, bring pressure | ||
| how does that play in Peoria | what is reaction of average person at grass roots | ||
| I need it yesterday | jocular way to say it is needed immediately | ||
| in the black | profitable | ||
| Indian Summer | unusual warm weather after summer is gone | ||
| interface the system architecture | computer talk; tieing into system | ||
| 100K | $100,000; K for kilo, or 1,000 | ||
| it occurred on his watch | it happened when he was in charge (military saying) | ||
| it should be a two way street | both sides should benefit/contribute | ||
| it will never fly | it won't work | ||
| it's a jungle out there | a difficult market with tough competitors | ||
| Jerry-built | cheap goods (W.W.I pejorative for (German) | ||
| jump through hoops | trying very hard (from a dog trick) | ||
| keep a low profile | or lie low | ||
| lay cards on the table | be perfectly honest | ||
| learning curve | speed at which one learns | ||
| level playing field | equal treatment | ||
| lion's share | largest portion | ||
| marching orders | instructions (from the military) | ||
| nest-guarding | to protect | ||
| not amount to a hill of beans | no value | ||
| number crunching | accounting or financial analysis | ||
| on a roll | doing well, moving forward | ||
| on the lam | flee from the law (criminal slang) | ||
| on the same wavelength | mutual understanding | ||
| overview | review of situation | ||
| pierce the corporate veil | see the true inside story | ||
| pipe dream | unrealistic, from opium smoking | ||
| plain vanilla | simple basic version | ||
| play hardball | deal in a tough manner | ||
| Politics make strange bedfellows | mutual interests bring different people together | ||
| Pooh-poohing | rejecting | ||
| power lunch | big business dealing at lunch | ||
| pushing the envelope | expanding activities beyond current restrictions | ||
| put on the map | make well-known | ||
| put the scotch to | to stop | ||
| received over the transom | unsolicited (old style of door with window above) | ||
| reinvent the wheel | create something that already exists | ||
| right off the bat | immediately | ||
| robbing Peter to pay Paul | taking from one to give to another with no net gain | ||
| rule of thumb | generally used but imprecise measurement | ||
| run it up the flagpole (and see if it gets a salute) | test to see if it gains approval | ||
| sandbag | hit from behind unexpectedly | ||
| save our bacon | save from danger | ||
| savvy | smart, aware, knowledgeable | ||
| sea change | a large change | ||
| sea legs (to get one’s) | to gain stability | ||
| seat of the pants operation | intuitive (flying without instruments) | ||
| set on its ear | disrupt | ||
| shotgun approach | strike out widely, as opposed to targeted rifle shot | ||
| slam dunk | from basketball; a complete success | ||
| smoke and mirrors | tricks to hide the true situation | ||
| somewhere (sometime) down the pike | sometime later on (pike is an old word for road) | ||
| square peg in a round hole | someone that doesn't fit or perform appropriately | ||
| step up to the plate | take responsibility (from baseball) | ||
| tailspin | uncontrolled descent | ||
| talk until blue In the face | persuasion with no result | ||
| the bottom line | final result or basic meaning (from accounting) | ||
| the flip side | the other side (from flipping over a phonograph record) | ||
| the Genie is out of the bottle | something that can never be changed back | ||
| the name of the game (is...) | the basic purpose | ||
| the proof of the pudding is in the eating | find out result with actual performance | ||
| the whole nine yards | no idea why, but means all, everything (football?) | ||
| to grandfather something | grant exception to the rule due to preexisting status | ||
| tongue In cheek | jokingly or not truthfully | ||
| took a haircut on that one (or, took a bath) | took a loss | ||
| tweaking, e.g. the economy | slight adjustment | ||
| unwind a deal | undo, take apart | ||
| wallpaper the meeting | include people favorable to your position | ||
| what can you bring to the party (or table) | what is your contribution | ||
| what makes him tick | what is his motivation | ||
| whistling past the graveyard | trying to keep up one’s courage | ||
| whose ox gets gored | who will be harmed by this plan | ||
| zero-sum game | if someone wins, someone must lose |