C2

Work Idioms

Bottom line: conclusion.

The bottom line is if we can't deliver the product on schedule, the costumer won't renew their contract.

Call it quits: give up / stop.

After 35 years in the business Peter decided to call it quits and retired.

Dog eat dog: ruthless competition, rivalry.

You have to look out yourself in finance, it's a dog eat dog business.

Donkey work: boring, monotonous work.

I need to find a new job, my boss keeps giving me all the donkey work to do and I'm sick of it.

Have a job (to do sth): find sth difficult to do.

I had a job finding the convention centre, your directions were terrrible.

Have one's work cut out for: have a difficult task prepared for one.

You'll have your work cut out for you getting this presentation ready for Friday.

Jack of all trades: sb who is able to do a variety of jobs.

John is a handy man to have around, he's a jack of all trades.

Pass the buck: avoid taking responsibility by saying that sb else is responsible.

James always tries to pass the buck onto somebody else if his project doesn't go well.

Shop floor: ordinary workers in a factory, or the place they work.

There are worries on the shop floor about job security.

Take stock: assess a situation.

We need to take stock of the situation after this latest report on the state of the markets.

Whale of a job: a very good job.

You've done a whale of a job getting this company up and running.

List of idiomas related to work. A list of idioms in alphabetical order can be found following this link Idioms - alphabetical order