7 New Idioms! ⛵️⛵️⛵️ Professional English | Vocabulary

Hello I'm Emma from mmmEnglish!

Idioms are a very common part of the English language

and I'm sure I don't need to tell you

that they're challenging to learn and use.

And that's because the meaning of the whole idiom

is often different to the individual meaning

of each word in it.

But that's no reason to jump ship!

In this lesson, I'm going to share some fantastic idioms

that are all about sailing

and of course, they're idioms.

So just because the word sail or sailing or ship or boat

appear in them,

doesn't mean that you have to be on the water

while using them.

They're all commonly used in every day situations

that have got nothing to do with sailing or boating at all!

In fact,

many of the idioms that I'll be sharing in this lesson are

frequently used when talking about work or colleagues,

often in professional context or even if

you're talking casually about work.

So let's dive in!

Starting with

to get someone on board or to be on board.

Now usually, the term "on board" is used when you're

travelling on a ship or on a plane.

When you're on board, you're on the ship

or you're on the plane.

But this concept is also used to say that someone

agrees with an idea, an opinion or a plan

to get something done.

It's to get approval or support for something.

It's a great idea,

but you need to get Simon on board

if you want to make it happen!

It's often used in business contexts

but it can be used informally

when you're trying to convince a friend to do something.

We're thinking about hiring a car for the weekend

and driving down the coast, are you on board?

That means do you agree with this or

do you want to be involved?

To jump ship.

Now, traditionally this expression was used on a boat

when a sailor left a ship without permission.

But these days this idiom is often used

when someone leaves a difficult situation

when really they should stay and deal with it.

It can also be used when a person deserts someone

or a group of people

leaving them to deal with a problem.

If I got offered the same job but with a higher salary,

of course I'd jump ship!

So I'd leave my current job and work for a company

that paid me more!

Of course I would!

I think that you should jump ship now

before the funding cuts are made!

In this context, the speaker is considering leaving the

company that they work for and looking for another job.

We need to offer our employees a competitive salary

otherwise they'll jump ship

and they'll be working for our competitors!

Smooth sailing.

Now this phrase is used as an adjective

to say that something is easy or manageable.

Progress is being made,

everything is happening according to plan.

We had some problems early on,

but it's been smooth sailing

since we hired a project manager!

Great work everyone! But, it's not smooth sailing yet,

we've still got two truckloads to unload before 9 o'clock!

That ship sailed.

Now this idiom is used when an opportunity

has been missed

and it's too late to change the situation.

Imagine that you bought tickets on an amazing cruise,

a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity

and as you arrived at the port, to get on the ship,

you see it sailing off into the sunset.

You've missed it

and there is no chance

that you're getting on that boat now.

That ship has sailed.

And this context can be used or applied to any situation

where an opportunity is missed.

More often than not,

the words 'ship' and 'has' are contracted together

so it sounds like that ship sailed.

It's disappointing,

but we just need to accept that ship sailed

and move on.

Since your ex-girlfriend has just got engaged,

it's safe to say that ship sailed!

A sinking ship.

That's not a good thing, a sinking ship!

Jump off before you go down with it!

A sinking ship is a company or an organisation

that is failing.

The future is not looking good, it's doomed.

As he left the management meeting,

he realised he was on board a sinking ship.

The company was in trouble

and there were serious problems

that could affect the company's operation.

So it's a sinking ship.

It sounds like you're on a sinking ship,

I'd start looking for a new job if I was you.

To run a tight ship.

This idiom is used

to describe the way that a company or a team is run,

managed by someone with very strict

but very effective rules.

A person who runs a tight ship

doesn't allow mistakes to be made.

Our boss runs a tight ship and she expects everyone

to work very hard.

Now that Sue's left,

it's become really obvious that she ran a tight ship.

It's been absolute chaos without her!

And lastly,

enough to sink a ship.

Can you imagine how much weight it takes

to sink a ship?

A lot!

So this idiom is used when you have more

than the amount that you need.

At our family gatherings,

there's always enough food to sink a ship!

A lot - way more than we ever need.

Look at all that luggage... That's enough to sink a ship!

Well, who would have thought that there were so many

useful idioms about sailing?

And I want to know, are any of these idioms

similar to ones that you use in your own language?

Because often there are similarities

and that can make them a little easier to remember.

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So, thanks for watching and I will see you next week.

Bye for now!