Business English Phrases and Idioms Every Businessperson Should Know

商業英文 — 辦公室英文字彙

Hi, I’m Savannah. Welcome to Oxford Online English! 

嗨，我是Savannah。 歡迎來到Oxford Online English！

In this lesson, you can learn some  common vocabulary, phrases and  

在本節課裡，您能學到一些辦公室裡 常用到的字彙、片語和俗語。

idioms for office life. This class will  help you understand English speakers at  

本節課會幫您理解在工作時 那些講英文的人要表達的意思，

work and use a wider range of English  vocabulary in your office conversations. 

以及運用 更廣範圍的在辦公室場景對話裡的英文字彙。

Before we start, you should check out our website:  Oxford Online English dot com. You can find all  

在開始前，您要看下我們的網站：  Oxford Online English dot com。您可以找到我們

our free English lessons. We also offer online  classes with professional teachers, where you  

所有的免費英文課程。我們也提供 有專業輔導老師的線上課程，

can study speaking, prepare for IELTS, improve  your pronunciation, or whatever else you want!

您可以學口說、準備雅思檢定考試、提昇 您唸英文的發音或任何您想要的！

So, how are things looking?

那麼，看起來怎麼樣？

Not good, to be honest… We’re way  behind our forecasts. We missed our  

不好，說實話… 我們遠遠落後於 我們的預估。我們錯過了

targets for Q1 and it’s not looking  positive for this quarter, either.

第一季的目標，並且本季 看起來也不是很理想。

OK, so what’s going wrong?

好吧，有什麼東西錯了嗎？

We’re not really sure…

我們真的不確定…

Right now, I’m afraid that’s not good enough.  

現在，我擔心還不夠好。

You’re the sales manager –  you need to have answers.

您是業務經理 –  您必須有答案。

Well, one problem is that cold calling doesn’t  seem to be working as well as it did in the past.

好，一個問題是行銷做得沒有 過去做的那麼好。

So? You’re in charge. If it’s not working,  

那麼？您負責的。如果那沒用，

change it. We may be a big company, but  we still need to be quick on our feet.

改變它。我們可能是一間大公司，但是 我們仍然需要走快一點。

I take your point, but I can’t turn  everything around overnight. A case  

我了解您的意思，但是我不能一夜 之間改變一切。就這點來說

in point is our high staff turnover. Many of  our sales team are relatively inexperienced.

的一個事例是我們的員工高流失率。我們業務 團隊很多人相對缺乏經驗。

But we have a good product…

但是，我們有一個好產品…

Of course, but inexperienced salespeople don’t  have that deep understanding of our USP that  

當然，但是缺乏經驗的業務人員沒有那種 對我們的獨到行銷買點的深刻理解，

comes from working here for a while. And, in  B2B sales, buyers can smell that inexperience.

那是要在這工作一段時間後養成的。並且在B2B 行銷，買家能嗅出缺少經驗的。

Either way, this is your domain. You  need to come up with some answers.

無論怎樣，這是您負責的。 您要給出答案。

Here, you heard some words and  phrases to talk about sales.  

在這裡，您聽到一些談論行銷的 單字和片語。

You’re going to see some  sentences from the dialogue, *but*  

您將會在對話裡看到 一些句子，*但是*

the highlighted phrases all have a mistake.  Can you correct the mistakes? Let’s look. 

所有標註的片語有一個錯誤， 您可以修正錯誤嗎？我們看看。

Think about your ideas. Can you  remember the correct phrases?  

考慮一下您的觀點。您可以 記得正確的片語嗎？

Pause the video and find your answers now. Could you do it? Let’s see the correct phrases. 

暫停播放影片並現在找到您的答案。您可以 完成嗎？我們來看看正確的片語。

How did you do? Did you get all the right answers?  

您怎麼做的？您得到所有正確的答案了嗎？

And, do you know what these  words and phrases mean? 

並且，您知道單字和 片語是什麼意思嗎？

‘Cold calling’ is a sales technique. It means  calling someone you’ve never spoken to before  

“Cold calling”是一種行銷方式。它意思是 打電話給之前從未和您講過話的

and trying to convince them to  buy whatever you’re selling. 

某人並企圖去勸說他們去購買 您正在行銷的某種東西。

‘Quick on your feet’ means flexible  – if you’re quick on your feet,  

“Quick on your feet”意思是靈活的  – 如果您走快一點，

you can adapt to new situations easily. 

您可以更早地適應環境。

‘Turnover’ in this dialogue means how  often staff arrive and leave. If staff  

“Turnover”在這個對話裡意思是員工 有入職和離職的頻率。

often leave your company and need to be  replaced, then you have high turnover. If  

如果員工離職率高並且需要更換人員， 那麼你們有高流失率。如果

employees tend to stay at your company for  a long time, then you have low turnover.

員工想長久在您的公司， 那麼你們有低流失率。

‘Turnover’ also has other meanings. In particular,  

”Turnover“也有其他意思。特別是，

it can mean the total amount of money  that goes in and out of a business. 

它的意思可以是一個生意的資金 總額的流入和流出。

Finally, what about USP? What does this stand for? 

最後，那USP呢？那是什麼意思？

USP stands for ‘unique selling proposition’,  or sometimes ‘unique selling point’.  

USP是”unique selling proposition“的縮寫， 或有時是”unique selling point“。

This is about what makes your product  or service different from competitors.  

這是關於您的產品或服務與 競爭對手不同的原因。

Maybe your product is higher  quality, or maybe it’s cheaper,  

也許您的產品有更高的品質， 或者也許是價格更有競爭力，

or maybe it has features that competing  products don’t. These could all be USPs.

或者可能它有競爭產品所沒有的特點。 這些都可以是USPs。

USP is an *abbreviation.* You heard two other  abbreviations in the dialogue. Do you remember? 

USP是一個*縮寫*。您在對話裡 聽到了縮寫。您記得嗎？

You heard ‘Q1’ and ‘B2B’. The ‘Q’ in ‘Q1’ stands  for ‘quarter’, meaning a three-month period.  

您聽到了“Q1”和“B2B”。在“Q1”裡的“Q”意思 是“quarter”，意思是一個三個月的週期。

Generally, Q1 means January to March. B2B stands for ‘business to business’.  

通常來說，Q1意思是一月到三月。 B2B意思是“business to business”。

You can also talk about ‘B2C  sales’ – business to customer. 

您也可以說“B2C sales” – 生意對消費者行銷。

Everything clear? Remember that you can  always review a section if you need to.  

都清楚了嗎？要記住，如果您需要， 您總是能複習一個單元。

Turn on subtitles or adjust the playback speed to  make it slower if you find it difficult to follow.

如果您覺得很難聽懂，可以打開 字幕或調慢播放速度。

For now, let’s look at our next topic.

現在，我們看看下一個主題。

I don’t seem to have a copy of the agenda for  next week’s meeting. Has it not been sent out yet?

我好像沒有下週會議議程的副本。 它還沒有寄出嗎？

What? We’re not doing the meeting.  We’re having a conference call instead,  

什麼？我們不開會了。 我們會有一個電話會議來取代，

so that the team in Singapore can be involved.

所以在新加坡的團隊可以參加進來。

Really? No one told me.

真的嗎？沒人告訴我。

I can forward you the details. Actually, do  you have any free time later? I’d  

我轉寄給您細節。此外， 晚點您有空嗎？我想

like to touch base with you about  some of the proposals we’ll be making.

和您聊一下我們會做的 提案裡的一些東西。

Er… What proposals? Seems like I’m really out  of the loop here. No one’s told me anything.

呃… 什麼提案？看起來像是我真的在圈外。 沒人告訴我任何事情。

I mean the new product lines we’re  launching for the East Asian market.  

我的意思是我們會在東亞市場 投放的新產品線。

We talked about it at some  length in the last team meeting.  

我們在上次的團隊會議上 有談過一些長度。

You were there, right? Anyway, if you need to  refresh your memory, you can read the minutes.

您有出席，是嗎？好吧，如果您要回顧 一下，您可以讀下會議記錄。

I wasn’t there – I was in Paris for  the conference that week, remember?

我不在那 – 開會的那周 我在巴黎，記得嗎？

Ah… Right…

啊… 對吼…

In that case, let’s find a time later this  week. You can catch me up so that I’m ready.

就這件事，我們本周晚些時候找個時間。 您可以從我這補上所有的，這樣我會準備好。

Yes, agreed. I’d like your input  on a few things. I’ll send you  

好的，同意。我想您寫上幾件事。 我會發給您

the materials and we can fix a time by email.

資料，我們用電郵來 確定一個時間。

In this dialogue, you heard some vocabulary  for talking about meetings and teamwork.

在這個對話裡，您聽到了一些談論 會議和團隊工作的字彙。

Let’s see if you can remember what you  heard. Can you complete the missing words?

我們來看看您是否記得您聽到的。 您可以填寫缺失的單字嗎？

If you’re stuck, you can always rewind  and listen to the dialogue again.  

如果您卡住了，您可以隨時 回頭再複習，再聽下對話。

Either pause now, or review, and get your  answers. You’ll see the answers in a few seconds. 

現在暫停播放影片或複習，找出您的答案。 您會在幾秒鐘之內看到答案。

Ready? Let’s check together. 

準備好了嗎？我們一起來檢查。

How many did you get? Have you heard  these words and phrases before? 

您有做了多少？您之前有聽到過 這些單字和片語嗎？

‘Touch base’ means ‘talk’ or ‘have a discussion’.  It’s a conversational, idiomatic phrase. 

“Touch base”意思是“talk”或“have a discussion”。那是一個對話性的俗語片語。

If you’re out of the loop, then you  don’t know what’s going on. For example,  

如果您在圈外，那麼您會不知道 怎麼回事。例如，

if go on vacation for two weeks and don’t check  your emails, when you get back to work, you  

如果您去度假兩周，您沒有看您的電郵， 在您回來工作時，您

might be a bit out of the loop – you won’t know  what’s happening and what people are working on.

也許有點離開圈子了 – 您會不知道 什麼事正在發生，以及什麼人在做事。

You can also use the opposite phrase – ‘in  the loop’ – meaning that you’re speaking  

您也可以使用反義的片語 – “in  the loop” – 意思是您在有規律地

to your colleagues regularly and you know  everything that’s happening in your office. 

與您的同時溝通，您知道辦公室裡 發生的每一件事。

‘Catch up’ is a phrasal verb. If someone says  ‘You can catch me up’, this means that there  

“Catch up”是一個片語動詞。如果某人說 “You can catch me up”，這意思是

are some things which I don’t know, and which  you can tell me about. It has the idea that I’ve  

有一些我不知道的事，您可以告訴我 關於這些的事。它的意思是

missed something – there’s something I should  know, but I don’t, and you’re going to tell me.

我遺漏了一些東西 –那是一些我必須知道 但我不知道的事情，您會告訴我。

From experience, ‘catch up’ can be  difficult to translate into other languages.  

根據經驗，“catch up”可能是很難 去翻譯成其他語言的。

If you’re confused about this, check  an online dictionary and look for more  

如果您在此混淆，查一下線上 辭典找到更多的解釋句子。

example sentences. Longman and Lexico  are good online dictionaries to use. 

朗文和Lexico是好的可用的線上辭典。

Finally, what about ‘input’? If someone says  ‘I’d like your input’, it means that they want  

最後，那“input”呢？如果某人說 “I’d like your input”，它的意思是

your ideas and opinions. Got it? Let’s move on.

他們想知道您的想法和觀點。 理解了嗎？我們繼續。

Let me tell you about my vision. Instead of having  bricks-and-mortar offices in just a few countries,  

我來告訴您我的意見。我們把我們的 行銷基礎架構100%移到網路，

we move our sales infrastructure  100% online. This will not only…

 取代僅在幾個國家設有實體店。 這將不僅會…

Whoa, whoa, hold on a second. You’re talking  about your ‘vision’ and your ‘mission’,  

喔，喔，停幾秒。您在談論您的 ”vision“和您的”mission“。

but your branch is still losing money every  month. Don’t you think you’re overreaching?

但是您的分公司仍然每個月都在虧錢。 您不覺得您太過分了嗎？

Well, I have a comprehensive business plan.  

好，我有一個全盤的商業計畫。

We put together a road map for digitising our  national operations, as a first step, and…

我們為我們的國內運營數位化整理了 一份路線圖，作為第一步，然後…

How about you focus more on breaking even  on a month-to-month basis, and spend less  

您怎麼樣能更專注於每月收支平衡， 並少花點時間在這些天上

time on these pie-in-the-sky ideas? Besides,  this is way beyond your pay grade. You need to  

掉餡餅的想法？此外，這已經 超出了您的職務等級。您需要

deal with your own branch, your own team, and  your own KPIs. It’s not that you shouldn’t make  

應付自己的分公司、您自己的團隊和 您自己的KPIs。這並不是說您

suggestions for improving things, but  you should get the basics right first.

不能為改善事情提出建議， 但是您 應該首先處理好基本的事情。

Yes, but…

是的，但是…

No buts! The number one priority for you right now  is making sure your branch at least breaks even.  

沒有但是！現在您的頭等大事是 確定您的分公司至少收支平衡。

You’re a young branch, so losing  money at the start is expected,  

你們是一個年輕的分公司，在初始 階段虧錢是可以預期的，

but we need to see a path to profitability. Right  now, I’m not sure you’re on the right track.

但是我們要看到一條通往盈利的道路。現在， 我不確定你們是在正確的軌道上。

But in the current business environment…

但是在目前的商業環境…

Look, I don’t want to hear it. You need to  get your house in order. Put your team first,  

看，我不想聽它。您要整理好您自己的 事情。把您的團隊放在首位，

and build a successful regional branch office.

並建立成功的地區分公司。

This dialogue was about  business planning and strategy.  

這個對話與商業計畫和戰略有關。

Let’s start with one question: did  you notice the title of this section?  

我們來看一個問題：您注意到 本單元的標題了嗎？

It was ‘pie in the sky’? What could this mean?  You also heard it in the dialogue. Any idea? 

那是“pie in the sky”？這是什麼意思？ 您也在對話裡聽到了它。有任何想法嗎？

‘Pie in the sky’ means an impossible dream.  In the dialogue, you heard this sentence.

“Pie in the sky”意思是一個不可能的夢。 在對話裡，您聽到了這個句子。

‘Pie-in-the-sky ideas’ are ideas which  sound nice, but which aren’t realistic.

“Pie-in-the-sky ideas”是那些聽上去 很好，但是不現實的想法

Let’s look at some more language which you heard. 

我們來看看您聽到的更多的一些說法。

Look at the highlighted words and phrases. Imagine  you want to explain them in English to someone who  

看標註的單字和片語。想像您想用英文 解釋它們給不知道其含義的某人

doesn’t know the meaning. How would you do it?  Pause the video and think about your answers. 

您會怎麼做？ 暫停播放影片，然後考慮您的答案。

‘Overreaching’ means to go too  far, or to try to do too much.  

“Overreaching”意思是離開太遠了， 或是想做太多了。

For example, if you agree to do a project which  you don’t have the skills or experience for,  

例如，如果您同意做一個您沒有 掌握或沒有經驗的項目，

you could say that you overreached. 

您可以說您太超過了。

A road map is a detailed plan, showing  exactly how you will achieve something.  

一個路線圖幾乎可以顯示您會 如何實現目標的詳細計畫。

It’s often used for large,  complex projects and plans. 

它通常用於大型、 複雜的項目和計畫。

‘Beyond your pay grade’ refers to  something which is not your job.  

“Beyond your pay grade”指的是 某事這不是您的工作。

If someone asks you to do something, and you say  

如果有人要您做某事，您說

‘that’s beyond my pay grade’, you mean  that you aren’t responsible for this  

“that’s beyond my pay grade”，您意思是 您不是負責這事的，

and you won’t do it. In the dialogue, the phrase  was used as a criticism. Telling someone else  

您不想做這事，在對話裡，這個片語 常用於作為一個駁斥。告訴某人

‘that’s beyond your pay grade’ is a way to say  that they’re trying to do something which isn’t 

“that’s beyond your pay grade”是一種說他們正在做 那些不是他們職責所在的事情的方式；

part of their job; it suggests that the person  you’re talking to should stick to their own job. 

它建議那個正在和您談話的人必須 堅持做他們自己的工作。

‘On the right track’ means ‘going in the right  direction’. If you’re working on a project,  

“On the right track”意思是“going in the right  direction”，如果您在一個項目工作，

and you say ‘everything’s on the right track’,  you mean that things are going to plan. 

您說”everything’s on the right track“， 您意思是事情都在計畫之中。

‘Get your house in order’ means to  sort out your own responsibilities.  

”Get your house in order“意思是 釐清您自己的職責。

An alternative – with the same meaning  – is ‘put your house in order’.  

另一個意思相同的說法是 “put your house in order”。

It’s most often used as a criticism. For  example, if someone who is weeks behind on  

那更常被當做一個駁斥來用。例如， 如果工作進度落後幾周的人批評

their work criticises you for being slow or lazy,  you might tell them to get their house in order,  

您的速度太慢或太懶惰，您可能會 告訴他們整理好自己的房子，

meaning that they should do their own work  on time before they start criticising others. 

這意思是他們在開始批評其他人之前 應該先按時做好自己的工作。

One more point: there is more language in  these dialogues that you might find useful.  

還有一點是：在這些對話裡有更多 說法您會覺得是有用的。

We suggest reviewing each dialogue at least once,  

我們建議要每個對話至少複習一次，

and make notes of any words or  phrases you want to remember.

記下任何您想要記住的單字和片語。

Now, let’s go to our last section.

現在，我們開始最後一個單元。

So, what do you think?

那麼，您怎麼考慮的？

About what? Is that everything?

關於哪些？那是全部嗎？

Well, yeah… I worked all week on it.

好的，對的… 我整個星期都在做這個。

It’s just two pages, with hardly any detail.  

那就兩頁，沒任何細節。

What about the technical infrastructure?  What about cost estimates? Look, I won’t  

技術基礎結構怎麼樣？ 大約成本呢？看，我不會

beat around the bush: I can’t do anything  with this. I’d get laughed out of the room.

拐彎抹角：這樣我什麼都做不了。  離開房間我會被笑話。

Perhaps I have bitten off more than  I can chew… I’m not so familiar with  

可能我做的那些事情超過了我 所能承受的程度 … 我不熟悉

the technical side of things. I thought we  could fill some of those details in later.

事情的技術面。我覺得我們 可以稍候填那些細節。

Doesn’t work like that, I’m afraid.  Either you bring me something I can use,  

不是那樣的，我有點擔心。要麼您帶給 我一些我可以用的東西，

or you go back to the drawing  board, or you give up.

要麼您重新做，要麼您放棄。

I don’t suppose you could assign someone  to help me to work on the IT angle?

我不認為您可以指派某人 來幫我在IT角度上工作？

My hands are tied, I’m afraid. We’re under  a lot of pressure right now. You said that  

我擔心我的手被綁縛住了。目前，我們 處於極大的壓力之下。您說

you could make this work; now you need to put  your money where your mouth is, to be blunt.

您可以做這個工作；我直言不諱， 現在您要說話算話。

OK, I’ll have a think about it.  Back to square one, I guess…

好的，我會考慮一下。 從頭做起，我猜…

In this dialogue, you heard several idioms.

在這個對話裡，您聽到了幾個俗語。

Do you remember the idiom from the title of the  last section? It was ‘pie in the sky’. You heard  

您記得在上一個單元的標題裡的俗語 嗎？那是“pie in the sky”。在這，

more idioms like this here. Can you remember them? You heard idioms with these meanings. 

您聽到了更多像這樣的俗語。您能記得它們嗎？ 您聽到的俗語帶有這些意思。

Can you remember the idioms which match  these meanings? For the third meaning – start  

您能記得哪些俗語匹配這些意思嗎？ 對第三個意思 — 開始

something again from the very beginning  – you heard two idioms in the dialogue.

從頭開始再次做某事 – 您在對話裡聽到了兩個俗語。

Pause the video, or review the dialogue and  try to find the idioms with these meanings!  

暫停影片，或是複習對話，試著找到 有這些意思的俗語！

Try to find all six – remember  there are two answers for one point. 

試著找到所有六個 – 記得 每點有兩個答案。

Did you get all six? Let’s check.

您有找到了六個嗎？我們檢查一下。

‘Beat around the bush’ means  to speak in an indirect,  

“Beat around the bush”意思是 以非直接的、不清晰的方式來說。

unclear way. If someone’s beating around the  bush, they’re not saying what they really think.  

如果某人是拐彎抹角，他們不是正在說 他們真正地考慮。

This is often used in the negative; for example,  if you tell someone ‘don’t beat around the bush’,  

這通常用於負面的；例如， 如果您告訴某人“don’t beat around the bush”，

you want to say ‘get to the point  and tell me what I need to know.’ 

您想說“get to the point  and tell me what I need to know.”

‘Bite off more than you can chew’ means to  try to do something which is too difficult.  

“Bite off more than you can chew”意思是試著 去做某些很困難的事情。

The meaning here is more direct – imagine trying  to put too much food in your mouth at one time. 

這裡的意思是很直接的 – 想像一下試著 一次放很多食物到您的嘴巴裡。

For the third meaning, there were two phrases:  ‘go back to the drawing board’ and ‘back to  

對第三個意思，有兩個片語； “go back to the drawing board”以及“back to

square one’. You can use these phrases as  verbs, with ‘go’, or as a simple exclamation,  

square one”。您可以把這些片語與“go”合用 當做動詞，或者不帶動詞“go”

without the verb ‘go’. So, you could say  ‘We need to go back to the drawing board,’  

當做一個簡單的感歎。那麼，您可以說 “We need to go back to the drawing board,”

or just ‘Back to the drawing board!’  The meaning is the same either way. 

或者就是“Back to the drawing board!” 意思是相同的。

‘My hands are tied’ means that I can’t help  you. If you say this, it suggests that you  

“My hands are tied”意思是我不能 幫您。如果您這樣說，那表明

aren’t free to choose. You can use it to  mean ‘I want to help you, but I can’t.’

您沒有選擇。您可以用它來表示 “I want to help you, but I can’t.”

Finally, ‘put your money where your mouth  is’ means to back up your words with actions.  

最後，“put your money where your mouth  is”意思是要實際行動，而不是空口白話。

If you tell someone ‘You need to  put your money where your mouth is’,  

如果您告訴某人“You need to  put your money where your mouth is”，

you’re telling that person to stop  talking and do something instead.

您正在告訴那個人不要只是 說，要立即做某事。

Have you heard any of these idioms before? You  

您之前有聽說過這些俗語裡 的任何一些嗎？您

can use them and hear them in many  situations, not just in the office.

可能在很多情形下使用或聽到 它們，而不僅是在辦公室。

That’s all for this class. Thanks for watching!

本節課到此結束。感謝觀看！

See you next time!

下次見！