Jargonaut Express: Essential Idioms for the Astute Business Speaker

By Brian Ashcraft

Acquiring a list of useful idioms could take an individual several years to encounter. Countless experiences are consolidated here to make your business speak pop. The Jargonaut Express helps you be there in stride with business professionals who speak a common language. If you are going to use idiomatic expressions to add some color to your vocabulary, you should first know and understand exactly what it is you are saying so that you can say it with a boost of confidence. When done well, these colorful idioms can be highly-effective tools that should be part of everyone’s communication toolkit. The Jargonaut Express aims to not just provide a simple definition, but to also provide additional contextual information that makes each idiom stick. What you will find is an increased awareness of idiom usage and also be able to contribute a memorable story that you can relate when you hear these idiomatic gems in your company.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu Publishing Services
• Release date: Apr 10, 2014
• ISBN: 9781483407357

Book preview

JARGONAUT

EXPRESS

ESSENTIAL IDIOMS FOR THE ASTUTE BUSINESS SPEAKER

BRIAN ASHCRAFT

DAN KELLY

Copyright © 2014 Brian Ashcraft.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted by any means—whether auditory, graphic, mechanical, or electronic—without written permission of both publisher and author, except in the case of brief excerpts used in critical articles and reviews. Unauthorized reproduction of any part of this work is illegal and is punishable by law.

ISBN: 978-1-4834-0736-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4834-0735-7 (e)

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by iStock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © iStock.

Lulu Publishing Services rev. date: 03/19/2014

Preface/Acknowledgement

So what is the driving force for promoting such a colorful vocabulary? Sometimes there are just people with a vocabulary that makes business communication pop. The Jargonaut Express helps you become that someone. We all know that good communication skills are important for your career, having the right idioms at your disposal can guarantee that your communications and presentations leave a mark. Learning and communicating interesting factoids about common business expressions found in this book lends well to effective communication in a wide variety of situations. Speaking with colorful and amusing phrases is guaranteed to maintain focus and attention when you are addressing a large or small group. Acquiring knowledge of such idioms through personal experience can take many years, and the aim of the book is to condense this rich library of information for immediate use. Study the material found in this book and, expect credibility and esteem as you springboard your business speak with a new found enthusiasm.

The lesson to be learned is that great idioms that include a certain stylistic refinement come packaged with substance that instantly makes a point become more memorable. Acquiring a list of current and useful idioms found in the following pages could take an individual decades to encounter. Countless meetings and discussions in a wide variety of business arenas have been consolidated into this resource to foster accelerated career development through better communication.

While not limited to any specific age or group, this book’s intended audience is comprised of people who enjoy increasing vocabulary in an effort to further their professional career. This book is for anyone with a desire to learn and apply interesting idioms towards everyday business conversation while improving their ability to convey a message.

Types of Usages:

Within the realm of business, this book includes many examples of different types of language varieties and jargon using euphemisms, aphorisms, metaphors, analogies, idioms, similes, expressions, and proverbs to name quite a few.

Contents

Chapter 1: Top Ten

Lightning Rod

Stealing someone’s thunder

Cross sabers

Peel the onion

Straw man

Red Herring

Wrapped around the axle

Knee jerk reaction

Silver Bullet

The long tent pole

Chapter 2: Business Related

Full optics

To throttle

Think Tank

Triangulate

Vanillacide

Dialed in

Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water

Like splitting hairs

Pass the buck

A bird in hand is better than two in the bush

Eleventh hour

Bake-off

Parking Lot

Don’t sell the steak; sell the sizzle

Zinger

Delta

Too many Chiefs; not enough Indians

Ambulance chaser

An axe to grind

Analysis paralysis

Beat that drum

Catch-22

Kicker

Out of the box

Left lane

Laser light focus

Company’s IP

Cycle

Yes Man

Red line

Honeymoon

On the dance floor or on the balcony manager

Get into bed with

Grease one’s palms

Greenfield project

Hand-holding

Smoke and mirrors

Let it drip

Ready, fire, aim

That dog won’t hunt

SWOT Analysis

Wombat

If you chase two rabbits, then you will lose them both

Upsell

Widget

To vet

Waffle

Fly on a wall

To weed out

Kick the tires

Shake and bake

Shotgun approach

Smoking gun

Sounding board

Pipe dream

Malarkey

Amped

Arm waving/hand waving

To spearhead

Rubber stamp

Salmon day

Rub elbows with

Run of the mill

Plug

Watch out for the potholes

Ponzi scheme

Prima Donna

Quid pro quo

Parkinson’s Law

Gordon Gekko award

Iceberg Principle

Cast a wide net

Canary in a coal mine

Fishing expedition

Fish or cut bait

Chasing butterflies

Proof is in the pudding

Proxy

Reinvent the wheel

To pigeon hole

No frills

Lock, stock and barrel

Give away the farm

Hiccup

High wire act

Hold feet to the fire

Free lunch

Fudge factor

Putting out fires

Fit and finish

Fly by night

Bubble it up

Secret sauce

Like shooting fish in a barrel

Minutia

Come to Jesus meeting

Draw a line in the sand

Elevator pitch

Parachute in

By hook or by crook

Bite the bullet

Bring up to speed

North Star

Run it up the flagpole

Brick and mortar business

Data mining

Drive beyond the headlights

Perfect storm

Skin in the game

Lieutenants

Low-hanging fruit

Circle the wagons

Moot point

Ping me

From the bottom up

Three-pronged approach

Boutique

From womb to tomb

drinking the Kool-Aid

Keep the wood behind the arrow

Burning Platform

Doesn’t move the needle

Deep dive

Thinking outside the box

Cannibalize

Blue Ocean

Smell test

Critical Mass

Is the juice worth the squeeze

Baked-in

Where the rubber meets the road

Wind in our sails

Chasing shiny objects

Daily Driver

Litmus Test

Button it up

Resonate

Wing it

Hindsight is 20/20

White flag

Rainmaker

At the end of the day

Tarred and feathered

Boil the ocean

From soup to nuts

Table stakes

Into the weeds

Phony as a three dollar bill

Stack the deck

Off the cuff

Cinderella scenario

Watch out for landmines

Gravity

Eclipse

Bells and Whistles

Misfire

Allergic reaction

Tongue and cheek

Steezy

Sledule

Carpe Diem

Bottom of the barrel

Fairy Dust

Wiggle room

Get a pulse

Bait and switch

Alphabet soup

Spinning plates

Lean in

If I’m smelling what you’re cooking

Ad-lib

Faux Pas

Break your crayons

Holy Grail

Gobbledygook

Ah-ha Moment

Join us for this hayride

Hard stop

Drinking from the fire hose

Throw it against the wall and see if it sticks

Test the waters

Doesn’t hold water

Chapter 3: Animal Idioms

Lipstick on a pig

Alley cat

To milk

Sacred cow

When pigs fly

Like baptizing a cat

A fly in the ointment

800 Pound Gorilla

Like herding cats

Cash Cow

Rattle the cages

Talk turkey

Boiling the frog syndrome

Sheep dip

Cross pollinate/Cross fertilization

Like putting socks on an octopus

Bird dog

Lion’s share

Fishbowl

Dog and Pony Show

Mice nuts

Kiss a lot of frogs

Chapter 4: Sports Related

Not our first rodeo

Pacesetter

Below the belt

Take it on the chin

Take a knee

Pass the ball

Horse in the race

Lateral

To move the goalposts

To make a pitch

To jockey into position

Penalty box

Pinch hit

Texas leaguer/bush league

Full court press

Tee Up

Within a 9 iron

Ballpark estimate

Blocking and Tackling

Throwing a Hail Mary

Slam dunk

Monday morning quarterback

Par for the Course

Swinging for the fences

A layup

Huddle up

Keep your eye on the ball

Call an audible

Make a game time decision

Behind the eight ball

Quarterback

Punt

Swim lane

Marathon not a sprint

Going down the wrong fairway

Scuttlebutt

Curve ball

Chapter 1

Top Ten

This book is portioned into four chapters, Chapter 1 entitled Top Ten delivers a list of the top 10 chosen idioms.

Lightning Rod

Sentence There are so many things that could go wrong with this plan; I just don’t want to be the lightning rod when we have to explain why we chose this option.

Etymology In the 1700s, because most contemporary buildings were made of wood, lightning strikes were a major cause of buildings catching fire. It was Benjamin Franklin (with his dedication to innovations geared towards community service) who invented the lightning rod based on his kite flying experiment that aimed to protect buildings from fire during electrical storms. The ingenious lightning rod would carry the electricity from a lightning strike down from the roof of the building safely into the ground which helped to decrease the amount of fires. Franklin’s lightning rods were soon found protecting many tall buildings and proved successful at protecting them against fires caused by lightning. Today, lightning rods are still a necessary addition to many tall buildings to mitigate the fire hazard which lightning strikes pose to structures.

Synonomy Scapegoat, cynosure, magnet, whipping boy, fall guy, patsy

Other Wedges and Subtexts The purpose of lightning rods is often misunderstood. Many people believe that lightning rods attract lightning. It is better stated to say that lightning rods provide a low-resistance path to ground that can be used to conduct the enormous electrical currents when lightning strikes occur. If lightning strikes, the system attempts to carry the harmful electrical current away from the structure and safely to the ground. The system has the ability to handle the enormous electrical current associated with the strike, if the strike contacts a material that is not a good conductor, the material will suffer massive heat damage. The lightning-rod system is an excellent conductor and thus allows the current to flow to ground without causing any heat damage.

Zavisa, J. (February 11, 2013). How Lightning Works. How Stuff Works. Retrieved from http://science.howstuffworks.com/nature/natural-disasters/lightning7.htm

In the Press The International Herald Tribune reports: Fang Binxing is known here as the Father of the Wall, that is, the Great Firewall — the sprawling system of technological controls in China that has created a parallel online world, or Chinternet, where global favorites such as YouTube, Twitter and Facebook are blocked. "Mr. Fang acknowledged in an interview in 2011 that he had designed major parts of the Great Firewall. He is a lightning rod for protest among the Internet-savvy who want broader freedom of speech."

Tatlow, D.K. (2013, February 11). Builder of China’s ‘Great Firewall’ Finds His Holiday Greetings Spurned. The International Herald Tribune. The Washington Times. Retrieved from http://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/11/builder-of-chinas-great-firewall-finds-his-holiday-greetings-spurned/

Stealing someone’s thunder

To solicit recognition for oneself by pre-empting someone else’s opportunity to impress.

Etymology Once upon a time much before digital sound effects, theatrical productions would manufacture the sound of thunder by shaking a tall, thin metal sheet, causing it to vibrate while striking it with a mallet to produce sound effects for musical or dramatic shows.

John Dennis (1657–1734), an actor-manager of the early part of the eighteenth century was a literary critic and largely unsuccessful playwright. In 1704, Dennis produced a play called Appius and Virginia at the Drury Lane Theatre, London where he showcased his invention; a new method of simulating the sound of thunder. His initial technique was simply to roll metal balls around in a wooden bowl. Mr. Dennis aside from having a brilliant new sound effect, was a lousy playwright; the play was not a success and was soon taken off. Dennis went to the opening night for the next show in town and was astonished to see his thunder machine being used in a production of Macbeth where he is said to have leapt to his feet and shouted, That is my thunder, by God; the villains will play my thunder but not my play!. The actual words are in doubt and are also recorded as "Damn them! They will not let my play run, but they steal my thunder!’ Dennis was obviously less than pleased about having his idea lifted, but his experience gives us this attractive little phrase.

Synonomy Steal the spotlight, steal the limelight

A few other related idiomatic expressions similar in derivation are Steal the Spotlight and Steal the Limelight, both come from the theatrical arena and are used to describe someone who is the focus of everyone’s attention. Before the widespread use of electricity, limelight was extensively used in theatrical productions to create spotlights by pointing an oxyhydrogen flame at a cylindrical block of limestone releasing a lot of heat in the process. Lime (calcium oxide) when heated to high temperatures, puts off an intense, white light. This is because