give someone the green light

MEANING: give permission to go ahead with a project

EXAMPLE:

Our boss gave us the green light to begin work on the new sales promotion.

Go public

MEANING: sell shares of a privately owned company to the public

EXAMPLE:

The stock of the Internet company rose very quickly when they went public.

Go through with

MEANING: finish, do as planned or agreed

EXAMPLE:

We have decided not to go through with our plans to launch the new product until we have solved all of its problems.

Hard sell

MEANING: sell something by being very aggressive

EXAMPLE:

The car salesman gave us a hard sell so we decided to go to another dealer.

Heads will roll

MEANING: someone will be punished

EXAMPLE:

Heads will roll when our boss learns about the money that we have lost recently.

In black and white

MEANING: in writing

EXAMPLE:

The company refused to deal with the customer’s complaints until they saw them in black and white.

In charge of

MEANING: in control of, responsible for

EXAMPLE:

My sister has been in charge of buying supplies at her company for many years.

In short supply

MEANING: not enough, in less than the amount or number needed

EXAMPLE:

Experienced computer programmers are in short supply at our company.

In stock

MEANING: have something ready to sell or use

EXAMPLE:

They didn’t have any computer printer ribbons in stock at the store.

In the black

MEANING: successful or making money

EXAMPLE:

The new company has been in the black for over a year now.

In the long run

MEANING: in the final result

EXAMPLE:

The company has been losing money recently but in the long run they should do very well.

In the market for

MEANING: ready to buy something

EXAMPLE:

We have been in the market for a new computer for a long time but still we haven’t bought one.

In the red

MEANING: losing money, unprofitable

EXAMPLE:

The company began to go into the red when the price of oil began to rise rapidly.

In the works

MEANING: in preparation, being planned or worked on

EXAMPLE:

The camera company has a new automatic camera in the works but nobody knows about it yet.

Jack up

MEANING: make a price higher

EXAMPLE:

The steel companies decided to jack up the price of steel at the beginning of the year.

Keep books

MEANING: keep records of money gained and spent

EXAMPLE:

The new assistant to the sales manager has no experience keeping books and has made many mistakes.

Keep track of

MEANING: keep a count or record, stay informed

EXAMPLE:

They have been making a great effort to keep track of the number of visitors to their store.

Kickback

MEANING: money paid illegally for favourable treatment

EXAMPLE:

The construction company was taken to court for giving kickbacks to the local politicians.

Make a go of

MEANING: produce good results, succeed

EXAMPLE:

Although he works very hard in his small business he has been unable to make a go of it and may soon go out of business.

Mean business

MEANING: be serious

EXAMPLE:

Our boss means business when he tells everyone to try and work harder.

Number-cruncher

MEANING: an accountant, someone who works with numbers

EXAMPLE:

Our president is a good number-cruncher and understands about the finances of our company.

On hand

MEANING: in one’s possession, ready

EXAMPLE:

We didn’t have any supplies on hand and were unable to finish the job.

(buy) on credit

MEANING: buy something without paying cash

EXAMPLE:

My friend had no money so he decided to buy the furniture on credit.

On the block

MEANING: for sale

EXAMPLE:

As soon as they purchased the company they began to put some of the equipment on the block.

Pay off

MEANING: make a profit, be successful

EXAMPLE:

The furniture manufacturer was unable to pay off their loan and had to go out of business.

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 1269