Business English Buzzwords - Learn Informal Business English Vocabulary

Hello students! Today I’m going to teach you some business English “buzzwords” – informal expressions that you might hear at work or in a professional context.

You’re a creative person, and you try to push the envelope at your company. Topush the envelope means to move beyond the limits of what is normally done, to innovate and go into new areas.

Maybe you want to cause a paradigm shift in your company or industry. That’s a radical change in fundamental beliefs or theory.

Your innovative ideas might get some pushback at the company – pushback is opposition or resistance to an initiative.

Some of your co-workers might tell you, “Don’t make waves” or “Don’t rock the boat” – that means, don’t do anything to disturb the current situation.

Unfortunately, your company is having a budget crunch/squeeze – there is not enough money to do everything that is necessary or planned.

The company needs to streamline its operations – that means to improve efficiency by simplifying things. The company decides to lay off some of its employees, and you lose your job.

Then you decide to start your own company. You’ll have to do it on a shoestring budget – using very little money.

Maybe you pitch your business idea to investors. To pitch an idea means you try to convince someone to invest in or support it.

But nobody’s interested in investing, so you’ll have to bootstrap – do it with your own work and resources, without outside help.

Luckily, you find a business partner who’s on the same wavelength – the two of you have views that are similar; you are thinking and working in the same direction.

And together, you manage to put the company on the map. That means to make something known to the public or famous.

You decide to reinvest the lion’s share of your profit back into improving your products. The lion’s share is the majority, the largest part.

And as a result, your products are world-class – that means of the highest quality.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this little story and learned some business English vocabulary along the way!

If you want to improve your practical skills in Business English, my Business English course will help you learn phrases for meetings, presentations, interacting at work, and much more