50 Advanced Conversation Phrases for Work!

hi everyone and welcome back to love english  i'm sabra and today we're going to be looking at   50 advanced english phrases now these  include expressions phrasal verbs and idioms   and they're all going to raise your  english to a slightly cleverer sounding   smarter sounding level which sounds a little bit  more native they come up in conversations a lot   but as well as that they're also used a  lot at work which makes them fantastic   because you can use them in professional  context as well some of them are a little   bit more informal and when that happens  i will tell you let's get started so number one is to touch base if we say we need  to touch base we mean we need to catch up briefly   it's like a quick touch it actually comes  from the game cricket so when you touch the   bass you do it very quickly it's like i need to  check in with you i need to catch up with you   comes up a lot at work would you mind if we  touch base this week i really want to discuss the   figures from the new report number two to bring  someone up to speed this is where somebody has   missed something and they're behind and this  is where we need to catch them up to the point   where they know the same as everybody else so  we might say can you bring kathy up to speed   she was off last week and we need her to know  everything about the details of the launch party   next week so bring somebody up to speed get them  up to the level of everyone else number three to   be a head of the pack to be a head of the pack  now a pack means a group it's often used to talk   about groups of animals but here it means a  people so basically it means you need to be   ahead of other people so we might say to  succeed in business we need to be ahead of   the pack or what about we think of something  really unique so that we're ahead of the pack   so it's something that's quite competitive  and it does come up quite a lot in business   are you a person who likes to be a head of the  pack are you someone who is competitive and   likes to feel that they are sometimes doing  better than everyone else not a bad thing   tell me in the comments below number four is to  have many irons in the fire to have many irons in   the fire and this means to have different projects  or different things going on simultaneously so at   the same time and we might say we're juggling like  with balls that you juggle and you try and catch   we're juggling many different irons in the fire at  the same time or we're juggling various different   projects at the same time so this means different  things happening needing management at the same   time to be juggling different projects or to have  many irons in the fire so later and i often have   many irons in the fire at the same time because we  have our channel we also teach and we're also new   mothers so we have lots of different irons in the  fire or we're juggling lots of different things   number five is to put something on the back burner  to put something on the back burner and this is   like put it to the back of the queue in terms of  tasks that you need to do now so it's a non-urgent   task so it's something that you you can't do  right now because you're very busy and it's   not urgent so you put it to the back of the queue  so it's like prioritize in a way you say oh this   one has to go on the back burner i'll i'll kind  of put it to one side for now until i have time   so at the moment i've put on the back burner  painting my bathroom and painting my kitchen   i have no time for this at the moment but it is  on my list of things to do it's just gone on the   back burner next thing is streets ahead of streets  ahead of and this means to be significantly better   than everyone else or than every other thing that  it's competing with at the time so we might say   well well the new student is streets ahead of  everyone else in terms of her understanding of   grammar she's obviously done lots of grammar study  before she's streets ahead of everyone else or   that new show that i saw on the west end in london  that was streets ahead of any recent musical i've   seen number seven is to boot to boot now before  you think this is a verb meaning to kick something   it's not it means as well as or in addition  i bet you haven't heard of this one before   this is very much a native one basically we can  use it in the same way as we would as well or in   addition so we might say layla is beautiful she's  intelligent to boot or what a lovely restaurant   and it's cheap to boot number eight another quite  advanced and native one this one is the proverbial   now when we say the proverbial we mean referring  to a proverb and we do it to add emphasis   so you know when you wag your finger at  someone this is a proverb isn't it we say   wagging my finger at you it means i'm telling you  off so if we say he was wagging the proverbial   finger at me we'd use it to add in emphasis and  make sure we're referring to the original proverb   or for example i'm sure many of you know the  um the proverb the pot calling the kettle black   the pot calling the kettle black is what we use  when we're saying someone is a hypocrite like   how can the pot which is already black be calling  the kettle black for example we might say she was   the proverbial pot calling the kettle black when  she started telling everyone not to drink alcohol   and there she was holding a glass of wine in  her hand so the proverbial try adding it in   the next time you use an idiom for extra  emphasis number nine to be quids in this   is quite an informal one to be quids in this  means you've made a bit of money you are up   in terms of profit so you might say well that  bet i put on the horses i actually won that   so i'm quids in number 10 is to have command of  something this is a great one for the workplace   now this means if we say someone has command of  something it means they have ability with it a   good ability with it they're very confident with  that thing so we might say does she have a good   command of english or does she have a good command  of written english for example this is for native   speakers as well often in cvs and resumes we might  say excellent command of written english meaning   very good at writing writing emails reports things  like that or great command of mathematics number   eleven is to be a pro to be a pro and this  just means to be a professional to be very   competent at something we might say she's a pro at  photography or she's a real pro at salsa dancing   are you a pro at something tell us about that  in the comments below number 12 the opposite to   be a rookie a rookie a rookie is a beginner  a newbie an amateur as well we can also say   a rookie so we might say i felt really sorry for  the rookie teacher she didn't seem to know how   to control the class now something that a rookie  needs to do is to learn the ropes learn the ropes   is an idiom that comes from sailing so when we  start a new job we learn the basics the essentials   and then later we start to hone our abilities and  skills and develop them but at the beginning we   learned the basics so we might say she's learning  the ropes but she'll get the hang of it soon   number 14 is to go the extra mile again this is  something that rookies or beginners that something   might do because they want to improve quickly  if you go the extra mile you do more than   what is necessary more than what is actually  required of you so you might say something like   my partner really went the extra mile when he  took me away on a romantic weekend for my birthday   he really went the extra mile number 15 is  to be up against it and this means to be in   a pressured situation racing against time  trying to meet a deadline so if you say i'm   really up against it trying to do last minute  revision for my exam it means you're trying to   cram you're trying to do a lot of things at the  last minute and you're racing against the clock   not a good situation to be in now the next one is  very similar this is to be under the kosh again it   means pressured situation you would say we're so  under the cosh with the work turnaround this week   we really need some more help it's very much for  pressured situations where you have a lot to do in   a short period of time now in pressured situations  when you're under the course or you're up against   it you're very likely to be stressed out you  can also use this in the present continuous and   say i'm stressing out so you can say i'm stressing  out about my exams i'm stressing out about how i'm   going to meet these deadlines number 18 to have  a lot at stake if there is a lot at stake there's   a lot that is being risked so there's a lot that  can potentially be lost we also say the stakes are   high the stakes are high so you can say there's  a lot at stake if i lose this job because i've   just bought a new house and i wouldn't be able to  afford it so i really need to make sure i keep my   job because there's a lot at stake number 19 to  be in the thick of it to be in the thick of it   this means to be in the middle of something which  is usually something where a lot of work needs to   be done or there is a lot happening to be involved  with something it can be positive or negative   so we can say we're in the thick of opening the  new restaurant at the moment so we're working   day and night to get it ready for the opening on  friday or i'm in the thick of preparing for my   ielts exam which is next week number 20 this is  a phrasal verb this one this is something crops   up and this is when something comes up it's a  synonym of comes up so crops up meaning something   comes up unexpectedly in conversation usually so  we might say the question of when they're going to   get married cropped up in conversation meaning  it came up unexpectedly it wasn't intentional   that it would be talked about number 21 this is a  great one this is to get to grips with something   and i remember this very well because my father  often says it to me and it means to manage or deal   with or become good at something if you get to  grips with it grip means to hold something tightly   so it's like you have command over that thing you  have control over it you've mastered it really   so we might say i really need to get to grips  with all the diy work i need to do in my home   or i really need to get to grips with my english  pronunciation i've got all these errors i know   and i just need to start working and studying  i need to get to grips with it it's a little   bit like tackle it if you like manage it perhaps  some of you might need to get to grips with your   english grammar or your english pronunciation  number 22 is to cut to the chase to cut to the   chase and this means go directly to the point  go straight to the point don't talk all around   it don't try to go slowly to the point cut to the  chase so often when somebody is talking too much   and we can feel they're not going directly to  the point we can say come on cut to the chase   say what you want to say or we can say look i'll  cut straight to the chase i really don't think   you're the right person for this job so obviously  we want to be polite but in some cases we do need   to go straight to the point and when you want  to say that you can say cut to the chase now   this idiom is similar but we don't use it in quite  the same way this is to take the bull by the horns   and this is when we take a situation directly we  don't try and avoid it we don't try and ignore it   or pretend it isn't there we take the bull by the  horns we think right i've got to deal with this   so i'm going to take the ball by the horns and see  what i can do about this so if you are trying to   get to grips with your english pronunciation or  english grammar you can think right i'm going   to take the bill by the horns and i'm going to  buy a grammar book or get an english teacher and   really start to improve this situation next  one is to get to the bottom of something to   get to the bottom of something and this means  to try to understand or figure out something   which is uncertain or mysterious you don't know  why something is happening or why something   has happened and you need to figure out what's  happened so in detective stories the detective   needs to get to the bottom of the murder case or  to get to the bottom of the case of the stolen   jewelry yeah trying to figure it out trying to see  what's happened number 25 to iron something out to   iron something out and this is like to solve or  settle differences so if you're ironing it out it   means you're smoothing it you're finding a way  to fix the situation or sort the situation out   so we might say at the moment we're ironing  out our differences in the business between   the two business partners we're ironing out our  differences and finding a way to move forward   you could also say the government are ironing out  the details of the new climate change strategy the   next group of phrases are all about how someone  speaks or talks they're all related to talking   so this one is to speak highly of someone if we  speak highly of someone we're very complimentary   about them we say very nice things about them so  we could say sabra spoke very highly of layla in   the video she said layla was beautiful and clever  the next one is to talk the hind legs off a donkey   to talk the hind legs off the donkey it's a very  funny phrase hind legs means back legs so if we   say oh she talks behind legs off a donkey this  means she talks a lot she talks so much in fact   a donkey could almost fall over and the back legs  would collapse from exhaustion so it's a very very   funny one so if you know someone who talks a  lot and they talk so much that you almost feel   you can say wow she talks behind legs off a donkey  of course another one in the same vein in the same   area is to talk for england if we say she talks  for england we mean she never stops gabbing number   29 is to talk someone up and again this is a bit  like speak highly of but it's where the person is   purposely trying to say really nice things about  a person in order to help them out in some way   so for example imagine you want your colleague to  get a promotion or to work on a good project with   you you could talk your colleague up to your boss  you could say oh you know i really think they'd be   the best person for this position because and so  you would talk them up next one is a blabber mouth   a blabber mouth now in most workplaces there is  often the person who you know can't keep a secret   who easily spills the beans and tells  things that they're not supposed to say   and this person is called a blabbermouth so  the person who can't keep things to themselves   talks a lot and is likely to say things that  perhaps they shouldn't it's better if they keep it   a secret number 31 is to talk down to someone and  this is where you are condescending or patronizing   to them so if you talk down you treat the person  like you don't think they're very clever or you   feel superior to them it's not a nice way to be so  you might say stop talking down to me i understand   this don't treat me like an idiot of course when  it comes to talking about conversation i had to   include a chatterbox it's probably one that you  all know but the person who is known for being   a person that talks a lot can also be called  a chatterbox now the next three all describe a   person's mood and they have something in common  in that they all start with inner so in english   we have this phrase inner something like inner  mood but we're not going to do in a mood because   it's easy this one is in a tizzy in a tizzy in a  tizzy means feeling very stressed can't collect   your thoughts so when i started teaching if my  technology failed or i couldn't find the book that   i needed i could sometimes get in a tizzy i would  think oh no what am i going to do now and i would   maybe go a bit red and look uncomfortable and that  is called being in a tizzy an equivalent of this   is also in a fluster in a fluster this is similar  to inner tizzy but this is in a fluster can also   be that you're running late so you're feeling  flustered you're feeling stressed again things   aren't going to plan and so you can say oh i'm  in a fluster because i'm i'm running late and i   don't know if i've got all the things i need next  one is in a strop in a strop is like in a stress   and we particularly describe um teenagers as  being in a strop it's where you feel really   unwilling to cooperate and you're very stressed  out but you're making it very obvious so you would   say oh she's in a real strop today because um her  favorite band aren't going to play in london so   she won't be able to go and see them so she's  in a bit of a strop number 36 to be at the end   of your tether to be at the end of your tether  at the end of your tether tether just means rope   so if you're at the end of your tether at the end  of your rope you are at the end of your patience   so it's like um when we would lead an animal  and if the animal wound itself around something   and then we had a small piece of rope it would  feel like we're at the end of our of our rope you   know it's a frustrating situation so if you say  i'm at the end of my tether it means i've run out   of patience with this situation i don't know what  to do anymore number 37 nice easy one a learning   curve so when we start a new job we have to learn  something quite quickly so it's like a curve   because we go from knowing not very much to quite  quickly knowing a lot so it's usually in a curved   shape of course the the more you need to learn  in the shorter period of time the more steep   the learning curve so the higher it is for example  next one to scrape the barrel to scrape the barrel   now this means to um take the worst of something  there's not much left of a particular thing   so to scrape the barrel is like to get the  remainder which isn't particularly good quality   so it comes from beer when you scrape the barrel  the last of the barrel of beer is not the nicest   so if we refer to any situation where we say we're  scraping the barrel it's like we're getting the   last we need to get it but it's the last part of  it and so it's not very good quality so we could   say i think they were really scraping the barrel  with the candidates for that new position because   none of them seemed very qualified next one is to  be under the impression to be under the impression   and to be under the impression means under  the idea or having the current idea that that   is going to happen so it's what you believe will  happen and so you can say i'm under the impression   meaning i think this is what's going to happen  so you could say i was under the impression we   were meeting at 12 o'clock but everyone else  is late so i guess i got it wrong next one is   off the top of your head off the top of your head  off the top of your head it's a fantastic idiom we   off the top of your head it's a fantastic idiom  we use it a lot in conversation it means the first   thoughts that come to mind almost like if you took  it off the top of your head the first thoughts   that come to mind not something where you've  thought about it or considered it a lot i'll give   you an example here guys off the top of your head  for you what have been the hardest phrasal verbs   to understand so if you think now which ones come  to mind first an alternative for this which is   another phrase is to spring to mind what springs  to mind this is the next one something springs to   mind and this means something comes quickly into  your head like a spring a spring is like a um   a jump so we might say what springs to mind here  or does anything spring to mind next one is to get   wind of something which is a strange phrase but it  it basically comes from when we smell something on   the wind as in something is um is coming that  is new so it's like you hear about something   so we might say i've got wind of the fact that  there might be some redundancies have you heard   anything about that it's like you've heard around  but it's not something that you're sure about   it's just you've heard whisperings or rumors  of very similar to hear a rumor now i know you   might be thinking isn't she going to say the  other alternative of course to hear something   on the grapevine so to hear something from  the grapevine is to hear a rumor of to hear   it not from the original source so not from the  person who perhaps originally has the information   you hear it down the line to hear it on the  grapevine next one is to be up in arms about   something now this means to be very upset about  something and to be complaining even protesting   strongly against something new usually so we might  say the general population have been up in arms   about the government's approach to coronavirus  and it comes from the fact that when you're up in   arms of course you raise your arms because you're  protesting you might hold a placard or a banner   so that's where it comes from to be up in arms  the next ones all describe different people's   approaches at work so we've had a rookie and a  pro but as well as that somebody can be a slacker   now a slacker is somebody that doesn't work very  hard at work so it's somebody who takes it easy   definitely never does the overtime never  volunteers to do extra tries to give their work   to others if they can um and it's a funny thing  actually we might say oh gosh you've seen he's a   bit of a slacker so if you're slacking you're not  doing your fair share of the work but we can also   say it um in a jokey way we might say oh come  on don't be a slacker make sure you finish your   report to pull your weight of course comes from  horses and carts when the weight had to be pulled   equally to make sure that the horses didn't get  injured and that the carriage went along smoothly   so to pull your weight is to do your fair share  of the work now speaking of horses the next one   is to be a workhorse if you're a workhorse  you pull your weight and more you don't shy   away from work so the kind of person that's a  workhorse is the person that can work and work   and not easily get tired they have a very good  capacity or ability to work hard next one is to   be a slave driver now if you have a boss that's  a slave driver this is a very negative thing   so it's a person who kind of treats the  employees like slaves treats them not well   really makes them work very hard perhaps  they're quite a disciplinarian someone that's   a little bit scary so they're giving you a lot  of work and much more than you can really manage   so we might say oh i cannot work for this person  he's an absolute slave driver i've been here   until eight o'clock at night every night this week  what a slave driver final one is to ride roughshod   to ride roughshod means to completely ignore the  opinions feelings wishes of others and to just do   it anyway do the things that you want to do even  if other people don't think it's a good idea or   unhappy with that so for example we could say they  accuse the government of riding roughshod over   international laws it's where they think right  we're going to do our own thing anyway it doesn't   matter what anyone else thinks let's just do it  okay everyone those were our 50 advanced phrases   for clever and smart conversations particularly  at work i really hope these were useful for you   please do leave examples in the comments below  and answer some of the questions we've asked   and we look forward to hearing from  you and seeing you very soon bye

Channel: Love English with Leila & Sabrah

Views: 52,059

Keywords: Love English with Leila & Sabrah, Love English with Leila & Sabrah YouTube, YouTube Love English with Leila & Sabrah, learn English, love English, English, English with Leila, English with Sabrah, British English, 50 advanced english phrases for work, 50 professional english phrases, 50 advanced english conversation phrases, english conversation phrases for work, professional english phrases, business english phrases, english advanced phrases, advanced english vocabulary

Id: zzu64Q_IPKA

Length: 23min 32sec (1412 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 29 2021