Business as War Idioms
There are a lot of expressions used in business which are borrowed from the army and from war. Here are some examples:
You can 'gain ground' on your competition.
We've gained ground in the Japanese market. We now have a 20% market share, up from just 7% last year.
You ' don't give up without a fight.'
I don't think we should just withdraw the product because we have such a poor share of the market. Let's not give up without a fight. Let's try some other marketing strategies.
You may need to 'reinforce' your marketing position.
Our sales team is doing badly against the competition. We may need to reinforce the team with some new recruits.
You can 'join forces' with another company.
In China, we've decided to join forces with a local company and set up a joint venture.
If you receive a lot of enquiries, you can say you are 'bombarded' with them.
After our last radio campaign, we were bombarded with calls to our customer lines.
If you don't want your boss to notice you, it's a good idea to 'keep your head down'.
The boss is very angry. It would be a good idea to keep your head down for a few days.
You can 'set your sights on ' an objective.
I've set my sights on being the next sales manager.
Often different departments of a company have a 'battle' over budgets.
There isn't much money and Accounts and Marketing are having a big battle over the advertising budget.
Some people seem to do things which make them look bad – they are 'their own worst enemy'.
He's always irritating the boss by being late for meetings. He's his own worst enemy.
Most companies set 'targets' for their employees.
Our target this year is to increase sales by 10%.
You can 'capture' a larger share of a market.
We need to capture more of the youth market.
When businesses fail because of a poor economy, they can be said to be 'casualties'.
They were a casualty of the last recession.
If there are a lot of potential problems in doing something, it can be described as a 'minefield'.
The workers are very unhappy and so are the customers. Taking over that company would be a real minefield.
There are a lot of expressions used in business which are borrowed from the army and from war. Here are some examples:
You can 'gain ground' on your competition.
We've gained ground in the Japanese market. We now have a 20% market share, up from just 7% last year.
You ' don't give up without a fight.'
I don't think we should just withdraw the product because we have such a poor share of the market. Let's not give up without a fight. Let's try some other marketing strategies.
You may need to 'reinforce' your marketing position.
Our sales team is doing badly against the competition. We may need to reinforce the team with some new recruits.
You can 'join forces' with another company.
In China, we've decided to join forces with a local company and set up a joint venture.
If you receive a lot of enquiries, you can say you are 'bombarded' with them.
After our last radio campaign, we were bombarded with calls to our customer lines.
If you don't want your boss to notice you, it's a good idea to 'keep your head down'.
The boss is very angry. It would be a good idea to keep your head down for a few days.
You can 'set your sights on ' an objective.
I've set my sights on being the next sales manager.
Often different departments of a company have a 'battle' over budgets.
There isn't much money and Accounts and Marketing are having a big battle over the advertising budget.
Some people seem to do things which make them look bad – they are 'their own worst enemy'.
He's always irritating the boss by being late for meetings. He's his own worst enemy.
Most companies set 'targets' for their employees.
Our target this year is to increase sales by 10%.
You can 'capture' a larger share of a market.
We need to capture more of the youth market.
When businesses fail because of a poor economy, they can be said to be 'casualties'.
They were a casualty of the last recession.
If there are a lot of potential problems in doing something, it can be described as a 'minefield'.
The workers are very unhappy and so are the customers. Taking over that company would be a real minefield.
