Business English Terms Quiz

Business English Terms

• Stay on budget: Avoiding spending more money than allocated.
• Kick off: To begin something, especially a project or event.
• Think outside the box: To approach a problem creatively or unconventionally.
• Ahead of the curve: To be more advanced or successful than others.
• Ground floor: To become involved in something at its early stages.
• White-collar vs. Blue-collar: White-collar jobs are office or professional, while blue-collar are manual labor or industrial.
• Play hardball: To act aggressively or ruthlessly in achieving a goal.
• Play by the book: To strictly follow rules, guidelines, and procedures.
• Corner the market: To dominate or control a particular market or industry.
• Yes man: Someone who always agrees with their boss to avoid conflict.
• Touch base: To briefly check in or communicate with someone.
• Red tape: Excessive bureaucracy that slows down processes.
• Sign off on something: To formally approve something.
• Call it a day: To stop working for the rest of the day.
• Playing catch up: To try to reach the same level as others after falling behind.
• Word of mouth: Information spread through personal recommendations.
• Mission statement: A formal summary of an organization's goals.
• Downsizing: Reducing the number of employees or operations in a company.
• Ballpark figure: An approximate estimate or rough calculation.
• To Whom It May Concern: A formal salutation used when addressing someone unknown.
• FYI: "For Your Information," often used in emails.
• ASAP: "As Soon As Possible," indicating urgency.
• CC'ing someone: Sending a copy of an email to someone.
• BCC: "Blind Carbon Copy," sending an email without other recipients knowing.
• Team building: Activities to improve teamwork.
• Start from scratch: To begin something completely from the beginning.
• Set deadlines vs. Meet deadlines: To establish a due date vs. completing it on time.
• Get/have one's foot in the door: To gain a first opportunity in an organization.
• Hands are tied: Being unable to act due to restrictions or limitations.
• Ahead of schedule vs. behind schedule: Completing tasks earlier than planned vs. being late.
• 9 to 5: A standard full-time work schedule.

Financial Terms

• Financial Statements: Documents summarizing company financial performance and position.
• Assets: Resources owned by a company.
• Liabilities: Obligations or debts owed by a company.
• Shareholders: Individuals owning shares in a company.
• Revenue: Total income generated from sales of goods or services.
• Expenses: Costs incurred by a business.
• Profit: Financial gain after all expenses are deducted.
• Depreciation: Reduction in asset value over time.
• Liquidity: Company's ability to meet short-term obligations.
• Write-off: Reducing the value of an asset or expense.
• Capital Expenditure: Spending on acquiring or maintaining assets.
• Turnover: Total sales or revenue.
• Close: Process of finalizing financial transactions.
• Auditors: Professionals verifying financial records accuracy.
• Dividend: Portion of profits paid to shareholders.
• C-Suite: Top executives in a company.
• IPO: Initial Public Offering.
• Compliance: Adhering to laws, regulations, standards, and ethics.
• Benchmark: Standard for comparison.
• Bottom Line: Net profit or financial outcome of a company.
• KPI: Key Performance Indicators - Metrics measuring success.
• Stakeholders: Individuals with an interest in a company.
• Margin: Difference between cost and selling price of a product or service.

Business Strategy and Management

• Diversification: Reducing risk by spreading investments.
• Triple-Bottom-Line: Framework measuring success based on profit, people, and planet.
• Overhead: Ongoing business expenses.
• Deliverable: Task, product, or service completed.
• Leverage: Using borrowed capital to increase returns.
• Pivot: Changing business strategy to adapt to market conditions.
• Bandwidth: Capacity to handle tasks.
• Circle Back: Revisiting a topic later.
• Scale: Ability to expand business efficiently.
• EBITDA: Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization.
• Elevator pitch: Brief, persuasive speech summarizing an idea.
• Big picture: Overall perspective.
• Staff shakeup: Significant changes in personnel.
• Same page: Sharing a common understanding.
• Ground up: Building from the very beginning.
• Drop the ball: Making a mistake.
• In the black/red: Profitable/operating at a loss.
• Outsourcing: Hiring external companies to perform tasks.
• Target demographic/end user: Specific audience of a product or service.
• ROI: Return on Investment.