120+ business English phrases for great business conversations

Regardless of whether you’re an entrepreneur or an employee at a company, if you’re doing business with people, you need to be fluent in business English.

And if you’ve ever heard any business English expressions commonly used in the workplace, you already know that most of them are very… well, illogical. Phrases like “let’s circle back” or “I just wanted to touch base” feel like they’re referring to geometry or sports rather than a business situation.

But no, they’re part of the widely accepted corporate jargon. And despite how snarky they may sometimes feel, they’re considered polite, formal, and respectful.

Ready to get fluent in corporate speak?

That’s great because we’ve prepared a long list of business English words for every situation - from office small talk to industry-specific business terms.

The importance of business vocabulary

Whether you’re at a networking event, an office team meeting, or trying to close an important deal with a client, you need to handle corporate conversations. Without proper business English vocabulary, you’ll quickly find yourself swimming in the sea of corporate jargon and unfamiliar terms.

Becoming fluent in business English and corporate terms will help you handle business conversations with more confidence and make a lasting impression on your boss, coworkers, or clients.

Plus, it’ll help you avoid embarrassing situations. Imagine inadvertently breaching a contract because you didn’t fully understand something or making a mistake in a project because you misunderstood what the client wanted.

Knowing a few basic business terms can save you from drowning in embarrassment or legal issues.

50 common business English words and phrases

English is the lingua franca of business. It’s the most common language we use to do business with each other, regardless of our culture, ethnicity, or native tongue.

That’s why many languages use English terms to talk about marketing or sales concepts. Even if you’re not a native English speaker, you may already know terms like A/B testing, SEO, or branding because your native language uses them too.

Everyday business vocabulary

Even if you’re not business-savvy (it’s ok if you aren’t!), knowing the most common words and phrases used in everyday business interactions is a must.

You’ll need them when introducing yourself to a new client or while talking with your coworkers at the office.

Here’s a list of everyday business vocabulary that’ll come in handy whenever you want to gossip with your coworkers or complain about your workload to your office buddy.

1. ASAP (As Soon As Possible):

To do something ASAP means to do it fast, with urgency. Ex.: "I need to submit the report ASAP so we can review it before the meeting tomorrow."

2. Backburner:

To put something on the backburner means to set aside tasks or projects for a while. Ex.: "We’ve put this project on the backburner for now."

3. Balls in the air:

No, it’s not what you think it is. If you have multiple tasks or responsibilities to handle at the same time, you have many "balls in the air." Ex.: "With the upcoming deadline and client meetings, I have a lot of balls in the air right now."

4. Too much on my plate:

When you feel overwhelmed or have too many tasks or responsibilities, you have "too much on your plate." Ex.: "I can't take on any more projects at the moment; I already have too much on my plate."

5. Bandwidth:

We’re not referring to a radio. Bandwidth is a person's capacity or availability to take on additional tasks or projects. Ex.: "I’d love to help, but I don't have the bandwidth right now."

6. Boil the ocean:

If we “boiled the ocean,” we just took on an overly ambitious task that’s unlikely to succeed. Ex.: "Let's focus on smaller goals instead of trying to boil the ocean with this project."

7. Brain dump:

In other words, putting lots of ideas on paper. Ex.: "I did a quick brain dump and came up with an awesome idea."

8. Deliverables:

These are the tangible results or outputs that are expected from a project or task. Ex.: "What are our deliverables for this month?"

9. Game changer:

A game changer means something that has the potential to impact or transform a situation significantly. Ex.: "This new organization tool I’m using is a game changer for me!"

10. Good to go:

When something is “good to go,” it’s ready. Ex.: "The proposal I’ve been working on is good to go for today’s presentation."

11. Herding cats:

This expression doesn’t mean that someone is literally herding dozens of cats in their apartment. It’s just a weird way to say you’re trying to manage people or tasks that are difficult to manage. Ex.: "Coordinating the different departments' schedules for this project feels like herding cats."

12. Run up the flagpole:

Running something up the flagpole means presenting an idea, proposal, or plan to gather feedback. Ex.: "I haven’t finished the project yet, because I still need to run it up the flagpole.”

13. Throw under the bus:

This is a common expression you might have heard in another context. It means to unfairly blame or sacrifice someone for your own benefit or to avoid responsibility. Ex.: "John tried to throw me under the bus by blaming me for the mistake during the presentation."

14. Micromanage:

Micromanaging can be the most annoying thing in the workplace! It’s the practice of excessive or unnecessary control over small details of tasks or projects. Ex.: "I’m so annoyed with Susan! She micromanages everything I do.”

15. Let go:

These are probably the two scariest words in the office! When someone has been “let go,” they were fired. Ex.: “Have you heard? Jack was let go yesterday!”

16. Keep me in the loop:

When you ask someone to “keep you in the loop,” you ask them to keep you informed and included in the conversation. Ex.: “Keep me in the loop! I want to know what’s going on between John and Susan!”

17. Workflow:

Workflow refers to the sequence of steps or tasks involved in completing a specific process or project. Ex.: “The workflow for this project is insane… I don’t know how I’ll finish it on time!”

Business meetings vocabulary

Over the past few years, we grew accustomed to online team meetings over Zoom or Microsoft Teams. And we’ve also gotten used to hearing the same corporate expressions over and over again at every team meeting.

Even if you’re not a fluent English speaker, you might have already heard some phrases used in business meetings held in English. But to help you confidently navigate the next meeting, here’s the list of key expressions with their meanings.

1. Meeting agenda:

It’s a structured plan that outlines the topics, objectives, and order of discussion for a meeting.

2. Opening remarks:

These are the comments or statements your team members make at the beginning of a meeting. They are meant to provide the context and introduce the rest of the team to the topic of the meeting.

3. Action plan:

It’s a detailed plan that specifies what needs to be done. It outlines the tasks and the timeline to achieve set goals.

4. Touch base:

If someone wants to touch base with you, it doesn’t mean they want to play hockey. They just want to discuss something with you.

5. Break the ice:

It’s a common expression used in everyday situations. It means starting a conversion and can be used during a meeting to kick things off.

6. Get the ball rolling:

It means starting something. In this case, the meeting.

7. Circle back:

When someone says, “Let’s circle back,” they want to discuss something again, or they’ll want to discuss it with you later.

8. Going forward:

It’s an expression used to move from one topic to another during a team meeting.

9. Think outside the box:

This is a popular idiom. But in the corporate setting, it simply means coming up with innovative ideas.

10. Win-win situation:

If something is a win-win situation, it’s an outcome or solution that benefits everyone involved. Everybody wins!

11. Move the needle:

If someone moved the needle, they made significant progress or achieved something that positively impacted the situation.

12. Take it offline:

I initially thought it meant to take the online conversation face-to-face. But no, it means to discuss something outside the current meeting so as not to go over the planned meeting time.

13. Back to the drawing board:

When someone wants to go back to the drawing board, they feel the need to start over. Mainly because something didn’t go as planned or they want to reevaluate the plan.

14. Trim the fat:

This funny expression means removing unnecessary elements to make something more streamlined or efficient.

15. On the same page:

When someone says, “Let’s make sure we’re on the same page,” they want to know whether you’re thinking alike.

16. Deep dive:

When someone wants to “deep dive” into something, they just want to explore the topic in detail.

17. Ducks in a row:

If your boss says, “Let’s get our ducks in a row,” it means they want to start getting organized to handle a task.

18. On board:

If you’re on board with something, you agree with it. If you don’t, you can always move the goalposts.

19. Move the goalposts:

If your manager wants to move the goalposts, they want to change something: the objectives, the scope, or the project requirements.

20. Park it:

If you’re parking it, you’re holding off on a project or milestone until you get approval from whoever is in charge.

21. Push the envelope:

If your boss asks you to push the envelope, they just want you to give your best.

22. Drill down into:

To drill down into something means to examine or analyze it in detail.

23. Forward planning:

As you may have intuitively assumed, forward planning is the process of anticipating future needs or events and preparing accordingly.

24. Silver bullet:

A silver bullet is a simple or quick solution that solves a complex problem or achieves significant results.

25. Cut corners:

This is a popular idiom in everyday English, which means taking shortcuts. It’s usually done to save resources (like money or time), but it’s not always the best way.

26. Call it a day:

The phrase you’re looking forward to during the entire meeting! “Let’s call it a day” means the meeting is over. Hooray!

27. Follow-up questions:

Follow-up questions are additional questions you or your teammates might have after discussing something. They aim to clarify things or gather more information.

28. Closing remarks:

The opposite of opening remarks. Closing remarks are the comments or statements made at the end of a meeting, usually to summarize what was discussed.

29. Wrap up:

When you’re wrapping things up, you’re finishing something - a task, a project, or a meeting.

Occupation-specific business vocabulary

Aside from the general terms used in everyday business conversations, every industry and occupation has its own terms.

Your colleagues from the marketing department keep on throwing 3-letter words that sound like a secret code. The folks from the legal department use phrases that make them sound like Harvard Law nerds and the HR people scare their employees with words like “terminate” or “benchmarking.”

But once you know what these terms mean, it becomes clear what all these people are talking about.

So, here’s a list of occupation-specific business vocabulary you might want to get familiar with.

Marketing vocabulary

English is the dominant language of marketing. Terms like B2B, ROI, or CTA are being thrown around the marketing world like darts. And if you’re not a marketing expert, you may wonder what these terms mean.

From the outside, they may look like some sort of secret code only marketers understand. So, we’ve rounded up this list of marketing vocabulary to help you break the code.

Sales vocabulary

Sales is the ultimate goal of any business. Whether you’re working for a company or for yourself, you’ll need to become fluent in sales speak in order to make successful transactions with customers.

We’ve gathered a list of the most common sales terms and phrases used in the English language to help you gain more clarity over their meaning.

Finance and accounting vocabulary

To someone who isn’t a financial expert, terms like assets, liabilities, and accruals have no more meaning than Egyptian hieroglyphics. Even if you did study some accounting in high school or at the university, you’ve likely forgotten what those terms mean.

Money is important to all of us, especially when conducting business. Whether you’re an employee or an entrepreneur, knowing some of the basic finance and accounting vocabulary in English will empower you to make better business decisions.

Here’s a list of key finance and accounting terms in English that might come in handy.

Human resources vocabulary

The HR folks often use many terms unfamiliar to their employees. And they should be! Even if you’re not a human resources professional, you should still know what the HR department is up to when they use terms like “broadbanding” or “confidentiality agreement”.

Knowing these terms will be helpful in many situations, such as signing an employment contract or leaving your job. Here’s a list of some basic HR vocabulary you need to know.

Legal terms and meanings

For some reason, corporate legal terms sound scary to those of us who aren’t well-versed in corporate law. Still, any employee, freelancer, entrepreneur, or business owner needs to be familiar with some basic legal terms.

Knowing these terms is essential when signing contracts and agreements, negotiating a deal, or addressing a legal issue.

To help you familiarize yourself with these terms and make sure you understand their meaning correctly, we’ve rounded up the following list.

Common business terms to avoid confusing

Even if you’re fluent in business English, there are some commonly used terms that can be pretty confusing.

Did you know that client and customer aren’t, in fact, interchangeable? The same goes for revenue and profit or marketing and advertising.

What are the differences between them? Let us explain.

Client vs. customer

No, they’re not the same thing. There’s a subtle yet significant difference. A client is a person that buys a service. A customer is a person that buys a product.

Collaboration vs. Cooperation

Although used interchangeably by most people, there’s a not-so-subtle difference between these terms.

Cooperation is when you work with other people to achieve your own goals. Collaboration, however, is when you work with others to accomplish a shared goal.

Market share vs. Market penetration

Unless you’re a marketing pro, these terms can be very confusing! They both talk about the percentage of the market the company claims, but by measuring different things.

Market penetration is the percentage of the overall target audience the company sells to. Market share is more detailed and refers to the portion of the target market that buys the company’s products.

Revenue vs. Profit

Contrary to what many people think, these two terms aren’t interchangeable. Revenue is the total income a business generates through its operations. Profit is the income left after deducting the expenses the company has to incur to make revenue in the first place.

Marketing vs. Advertising

These two terms are often confused because they overlap. Advertising is part of marketing.

Marketing is the practice of promoting your brand or products to your audience. Advertising, however, is the practice of paying to have your content placed in specific locations (such as social media platforms or Google) to reach your target audience.

Let’s wrap this up

Corporate jargon and business vocabulary might sound intimidating if you’re unfamiliar with it. But with the vocabulary mentioned in this article in your arsenal, you’ll never feel confused again during business conversations or legal talks.

Once you dominate them, you’ll begin to navigate the business world with growing confidence while leaving a lasting impression on your boss, coworkers, and clients.

And if you think you need some more business English support, check out our business services and cultural training programs for employees.