Everyday business vocabulary
Here’s a list of everyday business vocabulary that’ll come in handy whenever you want to gossip with your coworkers
or complain about your workload to your office buddy.
1. ASAP (As Soon As Possible):
To do something ASAP means to do it fast, with urgency. Ex.: "I need to submit the report ASAP so we can review it
before the meeting tomorrow."
2. Backburner:
To put something on the backburner means to set aside tasks or projects for a while. Ex.: "We’ve put this project on
the backburner for now."
3. Balls in the air:
No, it’s not what you think it is. If you have multiple tasks or responsibilities to handle at the same time, you have
many "balls in the air." Ex.: "With the upcoming deadline and client meetings, I have a lot of balls in the air right
now."
4. Too much on my plate:
When you feel overwhelmed or have too many tasks or responsibilities, you have "too much on your plate." Ex.: "I
can't take on any more projects at the moment; I already have too much on my plate."
5. Bandwidth:
We’re not referring to a radio. Bandwidth is a person's capacity or availability to take on additional tasks or
projects. Ex.: "I’d love to help, but I don't have the bandwidth right now."
6. Boil the ocean:
If we “boiled the ocean,” we just took on an overly ambitious task that’s unlikely to succeed. Ex.: "Let's focus on
smaller goals instead of trying to boil the ocean with this project."
7. Brain dump:
In other words, putting lots of ideas on paper. Ex.: "I did a quick brain dump and came up with an awesome idea."
8. Deliverables:
These are the tangible results or outputs that are expected from a project or task. Ex.: "What are our deliverables for
this month?"
9. Game changer:
A game changer means something that has the potential to impact or transform a situation significantly. Ex.: "This
new organization tool I’m using is a game changer for me!"
10. Good to go:
When something is “good to go,” it’s ready. Ex.: "The proposal I’ve been working on is good to go for today’s
presentation."
11. Herding cats:
This expression doesn’t mean that someone is literally herding dozens of cats in their apartment. It’s just a weird way
to say you’re trying to manage people or tasks that are difficult to manage. Ex.: "Coordinating the different
departments' schedules for this project feels like herding cats."
12. Run up the flagpole:
Running something up the flagpole means presenting an idea, proposal, or plan to gather feedback. Ex.: "I haven’t
finished the project yet, because I still need to run it up the flagpole.”
13. Throw under the bus:
This is a common expression you might have heard in another context. It means to unfairly blame or sacrifice
someone for your own benefit or to avoid responsibility. Ex.: "John tried to throw me under the bus by blaming me
for the mistake during the presentation."
14. Micromanage:
Micromanaging can be the most annoying thing in the workplace! It’s the practice of excessive or unnecessary
control over small details of tasks or projects. Ex.: "I’m so annoyed with Susan! She micromanages everything I do.”
15. Let go:
These are probably the two scariest words in the office! When someone has been “let go,” they were fired. Ex.:
“Have you heard? Jack was let go yesterday!”
16. Keep me in the loop:
When you ask someone to “keep you in the loop,” you ask them to keep you informed and included in the
conversation. Ex.: “Keep me in the loop! I want to know what’s going on between John and Susan!”
17. Workflow:
Workflow refers to the sequence of steps or tasks involved in completing a specific process or project. Ex.: “The
workflow for this project is insane… I don’t know how I’ll finish it on time!”
Business meetings vocabulary
Over the past few years, we grew accustomed to online team meetings over Zoom or Microsoft Teams. And we’ve
also gotten used to hearing the same corporate expressions over and over again at every team meeting.
Even if you’re not a fluent English speaker, you might have already heard some phrases used in business meetings
held in English. But to help you confidently navigate the next meeting, here’s the list of key expressions with their
meanings.
1. Meeting agenda:
It’s a structured plan that outlines the topics, objectives, and order of discussion for a meeting.
2. Opening remarks:
These are the comments or statements your team members make at the beginning of a meeting. They are meant to
provide the context and introduce the rest of the team to the topic of the meeting.
3. Action plan:
It’s a detailed plan that specifies what needs to be done. It outlines the tasks and the timeline to achieve set goals.
4. Touch base:
If someone wants to touch base with you, it doesn’t mean they want to play hockey. They just want to discuss
something with you.
5. Break the ice:
It’s a common expression used in everyday situations. It means starting a conversion and can be used during a
meeting to kick things off.
6. Get the ball rolling:
It means starting something. In this case, the meeting.
7. Circle back:
When someone says, “Let’s circle back,” they want to discuss something again, or they’ll want to discuss it with you
later.
8. Going forward:
It’s an expression used to move from one topic to another during a team meeting.
9. Think outside the box:
This is a popular idiom. But in the corporate setting, it simply means coming up with innovative ideas.
10. Win-win situation:
If something is a win-win situation, it’s an outcome or solution that benefits everyone involved. Everybody wins!
11. Move the needle:
If someone moved the needle, they made significant progress or achieved something that positively impacted the
situation.
12. Take it offline:
I initially thought it meant to take the online conversation face-to-face. But no, it means to discuss something outside
the current meeting so as not to go over the planned meeting time.
13. Back to the drawing board:
When someone wants to go back to the drawing board, they feel the need to start over. Mainly because something
didn’t go as planned or they want to reevaluate the plan.
14. Trim the fat:
This funny expression means removing unnecessary elements to make something more streamlined or efficient.
15. On the same page:
When someone says, “Let’s make sure we’re on the same page,” they want to know whether you’re thinking alike.
16. Deep dive:
When someone wants to “deep dive” into something, they just want to explore the topic in detail.
17. Ducks in a row:
If your boss says, “Let’s get our ducks in a row,” it means they want to start getting organized to handle a task.
18. On board:
If you’re on board with something, you agree with it. If you don’t, you can always move the goalposts.
19. Move the goalposts:
If your manager wants to move the goalposts, they want to change something: the objectives, the scope, or the
project requirements.
20. Park it:
If you’re parking it, you’re holding off on a project or milestone until you get approval from whoever is in charge.
21. Push the envelope:
If your boss asks you to push the envelope, they just want you to give your best.
22. Drill down into:
To drill down into something means to examine or analyze it in detail.
23. Forward planning:
As you may have intuitively assumed, forward planning is the process of anticipating future needs or events and
preparing accordingly.
24. Silver bullet:
A silver bullet is a simple or quick solution that solves a complex problem or achieves significant results.
25. Cut corners:
This is a popular idiom in everyday English, which means taking shortcuts. It’s usually done to save resources (like
money or time), but it’s not always the best way.
26. Call it a day:
The phrase you’re looking forward to during the entire meeting! “Let’s call it a day” means the meeting is over.
Hooray!
27. Follow-up questions:
Follow-up questions are additional questions you or your teammates might have after discussing something. They
aim to clarify things or gather more information.
28. Closing remarks:
The opposite of opening remarks. Closing remarks are the comments or statements made at the end of a meeting,
usually to summarize what was discussed.
29. Wrap up:
When you’re wrapping things up, you’re finishing something - a task, a project, or a meeting.
Occupation-specific business vocabulary
Aside from the general terms used in everyday business conversations, every industry and occupation has its own
terms. So, here’s a list of occupation-specific business vocabulary you might want to get familiar with.
Marketing vocabulary
English is the dominant language of marketing. Terms like B2B, ROI, or CTA are being thrown around the marketing
world like darts. And if you’re not a marketing expert, you may wonder what these terms mean.
Term/phrase Meaning Used in a sentence
It's business between two companies,
B2B (Business to rather than a company and an We’re a B2B brand. We sell software to
business) individual. marketing companies.
Spreading the word about your brand
as far and wide as you can. Usually via Increasing brand awareness is the primary
Brand awareness social media or Google. goal of our social media strategy.
Creating a unique and recognizable
identity (both visual and non-visual)
Branding for a product or a company. This company's branding is unique.
The button on a website that
Call to action encourages action, like making a The CTA on our landing page says, "Sign up
(CTA) purchase. for free."
A story about someone's experience
with your product or service and how You need solid case studies if you want your
Case study it benefitted them. customers to trust you more.
Sneaky headlines that trick you into
clicking. Once you do, it turns out it's The title of this blog article was clickbait! It
Clickbait not what you expected. was a waste of time.
Calling people who have never heard
about your brand to sell them your Cold calling can be an effective marketing
Cold calling products or services strategy if done well.
Our content marketing strategy includes
Content Marketing your brand via any written, publishing informative blog posts to build
marketing: audio, or video content. brand credibility.
The percentage of visitors who take
the desired action on your website
(like making a purchase or signing up We implemented a new checkout process
Conversion rate for your email list). that increased our conversion rate by 10%.
Customer The process your customers go The customer journey typically has a few
journey through before they buy your stuff. stages.
Customer Dividing your customers into groups We implement customer segmentation to
segmentation based on shared characteristics. personalize our email campaigns.
You go viral when one of your social
media posts receives skyrocketing
amounts of engagement you One of my Instagram reels went viral, and I
Going viral previously didn't have. became a travel influencer.
Getting someone famous on social
Influencer media to market your product or talk We've got a fashion influencer promoting
marketing about your brand to their followers. our clothing line on Instagram!
A page designed to promote one
specific product or offer and get
visitors to do one thing, like download Our landing page isn't converting. We
Landing page a freebie or buy something. should redesign it.
Collecting data to understand your
audience's preferences and find out We conducted market research to know
Market research what your competitors are doing. what customers want.
Getting new employees up to speed
so they don't feel like confused
puppies. Or setting everything us for
new customers so they can use your
product or service without feeling Let’s get our new employees onboarded
Onboarding confused (like puppies). quickly.
The metric we calculate to see if the
ROI (Return on money we invested into something Let’s calculate our ROI to know if we made a
investment) made us more money. profit from our investment.
SEO (Search Optimizing a website or content to
Engine improve its visibility and ranking in We need to hire an SEO expert to help us
Optimization) search engine results. appear on the first page of Google.
It measures how people interact with
Social media your social media content via likes, Our social media engagement is too low.
engagement comments, shares, and saves. We need to post better content!
The group of people who share
similar characteristics and are most Our target audience is young moms who
likely to be interested in your product want to get in shape with quick home
Target audience or service. workouts.
The written or recorded opinions
people have about your products or How many testimonials should we put on
Testimonials services. our website?
It's the trait that makes your product Our USP is our eco-friendly packaging,
Unique selling or service different from your which appeals to environmentally conscious
proposition (USP) competitors. consumers.
Sales vocabulary
Sales is the ultimate goal of any business. A list of the most common sales terms and phrases used in the English
language to help you gain more clarity over their meaning.
Term/phrase Meaning Used in a sentence
Getting a great deal or discount on a
Bargain purchase. This new dress was a total bargain!
To buy large quantities of the same When I go shopping for office supplies, I buy
Buy in bulk product. them in bulk.
The person or company that buys The buyer didn't agree to the proposed fee for
Buyer something. the service.
Our clients are happy with our web design
Client The person that buys our services. service.
To successfully convince someone to After overcoming the customer's objections, I
Close the sale make a purchase. managed to close the sale.
Our customers are satisfied with our beauty
Customer The person that buys our products. products.
Good value A fair and worthwhile return on the This hotel was good value for money. I'll stay
for money amount spent. there again.
A document that shows the details I sent the customer an invoice for my
Invoice and cost of a product or service. copywriting services.
To attempt to reach a fair agreement
between the buyer and seller on We negotiated with the supplier to get a
Negotiate terms and price. better price for the materials.
When a product is temporarily
unavailable for purchase, it's out of I'm sorry, but our T-shirts are currently out of
Out of stock stock. stock.
To pay the entire price of a product The customer decided to pay in full, so we
Pay in full or service at once. gave him a discount.
The practice of paying for a purchase
Payment by in smaller, regular amounts over a You can buy the car with a convenient
installments period of time. payment plan in monthly installments.
An arrangement to pay for
something in a structured and We offer a flexible payment plan on our
Payment plan scheduled manner. consulting packages.
A potential customer who fits the
compaby's target market and shows
interest or is likely to show interest
in the company's products or We have a long list of prospects we need to
Prospect services. call.
Purchase To buy something I recently purchased a new car.
Providing a price estimate for a I sent the customer a quote for our web
Quote product or service. design service this morning.
The money that a business gives
back to a customer for returning a We issued a refund to the customer who
Refund product or canceling a service. wasn't happy with our service.
A store or business that sells Our retailer partners are selling our
Retailer products directly to customers. merchandise.
A persuasive presentation to I delivered an epic sales pitch that left the
convince someone to buy your customer speechless. He immediately bought
Sales pitch product or service. our service!
The person or company that sells The seller is asking for a high price for their
Seller something. product.
When a product is sold out, the store The tickets to the Beyoncé concert are already
Sold out has no more left. sold out.
A company that provides another
company with the products they will Our clothing supplier didn't deliver the T-shirts
Supplier later sell to their customers. we ordered on time.
Testing out a product or service I signed up for a free trial to see what this app
Trial before committing to a purchase. offers.
A company that sells products in Please call the wholesaler and order the usual
Wholesaler large quantities to retailers. amount of Coca-Cola cans.
Finance and accounting vocabulary
Money is important to all of us, especially when conducting business.Here’s a list of key finance and accounting terms
in English that might come in handy.
Term/phrase Meaning Used in a sentence
Our assets include property, equipment,
Assets Things a business owns that have value. and inventory.
A financial statement showing assets, We need to update the balance sheet for
Balance sheet liabilities, and equity. the year-end report.
Break-even The sales level at which a business We need to sell 500 units to reach the
point neither makes a profit nor a loss. break-even point.
A plan for how much money a business Let's create a budget for our marketing
Budget can spend and where it will go. campaign.
Money invested in a business to get it We raised capital from investors to
Capital started or help it grow. expand our operations.
Money coming in and going out of a Good cash flow means we can pay our
Cash flow business. bills on time.
The decrease in the value of assets over We need to account for depreciation
Depreciation time. when calculating the asset's value.
The value of the business after Our equity increased as our business
Equity subtracting liabilities. grew.
The money a business spend on stuff Our expenses include rent, salaries, and
Expenses they need to run the company. office supplies.
Money left after subtracting the cost of Our gross profit margin increased due to
Gross profit goods sold. cost-saving measures.
Income A financial report showing revenue, The income statement revealed our
statement expenses, and profit. strong sales growth.
All the products or items the business We need to manage our inventory to
Inventory has in stock that it's planning to sell. avoid overstocking or shortages.
The money a business owes to other The loan from the bank is a liability we
Liabilities people (like investors or stakeholders). need to pay back.
When a company spends more than We had a loss last quarter due to
Loss they make, they have a loss. unexpected expenses.
Money left after subtracting all We had a net profit of $100,000 this
Net profit expenses. quarter.
The money a business makes from Our revenue skyrocketed after launching
Revenue selling products or services. the new product.
Human resources vocabulary
The HR folks often use many terms unfamiliar to their employees. Knowing these terms will be helpful in many
situations, such as signing an employment contract or leaving your job. Here’s a list of some basic HR vocabulary you
need to know.
Term/phrase Meaning Used in a sentence
Applicant
tracking A system that helps recruiters keep track Our ATS saves recruiters a lot of time on
system (ATS) of all the job applications they receive. manually tracking job applications.
Some of the behavioral competencies we
Behavioral The skills and qualities that contribute to evaluate as leadership and decision-
competency effective job performance. making skills.
Comparing your performance to industry We're benchmarking our customer
best practices to identify areas for service response time against our main
Benchmarking improvement. competitor's.
Consolidating multiple job levels into Our broadbanding approach allows us to
Broadbanding broader pay ranges. cut employee costs.
It's an agreement that employees sign
that prevents them from using the
confidential information they handle as The company made me sign a
Confidentiality part of their job outside of their confidentiality agreement to be approved
agreement responsibilities. for the position.
During the exit interview, we asked
A conversation held when an employee is departing employees to rate their overall
Exit interview leaving to gather feedback and insights. experience with us on a scale of 1 to 10.
An action that is unacceptable at the
Gross workplace and needs to be punished by Did you hear that John committed gross
misconduct immediate dismissal. misconduct? He got immediately fired!
A description that lists everything you're
Job supposed to do at a particular job, usually My job description says I'm responsible
description part of a job advertisement. for handling customer queries 24/7.
Key
performance HR KPIs are the metrics used to measure
indicators how HR contributes to the company's The average interviewing cost is one of
(KPIs) success. our main KPIs to measure HR's success.
The process of educating new employees Our onboarding process involves a 3-
and turning them into fully functioning week training under the team leader's
Onboarding team members. supervision.
The first day of work for new employees
that includes a tour of the office and a
couple of meetings that explain the During orientation, we gave new hires a
Orientation nature of the job. crash course on office culture.
The process of finding new employees to We're recruiting a team of expert web
Recruitment work at a company. developers for our new project.
We're training our interns to become
Succession Identifying and preparing potential future employees as part of our
planning candidates for key roles in the future. succession planning.
Thanks to our talent management efforts,
Talent Nurturing and developing employees' our employees stay at our company
management skills and potential. longer.
Legal terms and meanings
For some reason, corporate legal terms sound scary to those of us who aren’t well-versed in corporate law.
To help you familiarize yourself with these terms.
Term/phrase Meaning Used in a sentence
An understanding between two or more
parties, usually documented in a A satisfactory agreement between the two
Agreement contract. parties was finally reached.
An additional section of a contract that The project proposal includes an appendix
Appendix provides additional information. detailing the project deliverables.
This happens when one of the two
parties doesn’t comply with the terms
Breach of agreed upon in the contract they The supplier's failure to deliver goods
contract signed. constituted a breach of contract.
The non-compete clause prohibits our
A section in a contract that addresses a employees from working for our
Clause specific issue. competitors.
A document where the agreement
between two parties is outlined in
Contract detail. The client finally signed the contract.
The exclusive legal right granted to the
creator of an original work, protecting it The author obtained copyright protection
Copyright from unauthorized use. for their novel.
Not to adhere to the requirements or The contractor failed to comply with safety
Fail to comply terms outlined in a signed contract. regulations.
The tiny text, usually at the bottom of a
document or contract, that contains Carefully reading the fine print can help
Fine print important information. you avoid unpleasant surprises.
Intangible creations of the mind, such as
Intellectual inventions, designs, or artistic works, The company filed a patent application to
property protected by law. protect its intellectual property.
A conflict between two parties that The company entered into a legal dispute
Legal dispute requires legal intervention. with a former employee.
A person who knows the ins and outs of
legal matters and can advise those with The company contacted a legal expert to
Legal expert no idea. review the contract.
Legally When something is legally binding, it is
binding enforceable by law. The contract you signed is legally binding.
The court declared the contract null and
It means that a contract is considered void due to misrepresentation by one of
Null and void invalid and has no legal effect. the parties.
An individual or a company involved in a Both parties agreed to the terms of the
Party contract or a legal dispute. employment contract.
Terminate a To end the contract before its The parties mutually agreed to terminate
contract completion date. the contract.
The requirements you agree to when The terms of the contract are clear: you
Terms signing a contract. cannot end it without a reason.
A legally registered symbol, word,
phrase, or logo used to identify a brand The company registered its logo as a
Trademark or a product. trademark.
Common business terms to avoid confusion
Client vs. customer
No, they’re not the same thing. There’s a subtle yet significant difference. A client is a person that buys a service. A
customer is a person that buys a product.
Collaboration vs. Cooperation
Although used interchangeably by most people, there’s a not-so-subtle difference between these terms.
Cooperation is when you work with other people to achieve your own goals. Collaboration, however, is when you
work with others to accomplish a shared goal.
Market share vs. Market penetration
Unless you’re a marketing pro, these terms can be very confusing! They both talk about the percentage of the market
the company claims, but by measuring different things.
Market penetration is the percentage of the overall target audience the company sells to. Market share is more
detailed and refers to the portion of the target market that buys the company’s products.
Revenue vs. Profit
Contrary to what many people think, these two terms aren’t interchangeable. Revenue is the total income a business
generates through its operations. Profit is the income left after deducting the expenses the company has to incur to
make revenue in the first place.
Marketing vs. Advertising
These two terms are often confused because they overlap. Advertising is part of marketing.
Marketing is the practice of promoting your brand or products to your audience. Advertising, however, is the practice
of paying to have your content placed in specific locations (such as social media platforms or Google) to reach your
target audience.
