Idioms: Business and Work
Business and work idioms is the B2 professional-figurative-English collection. Think outside the box (creative thinking), get the ball rolling (start something), cut corners (do something cheaply or poorly), climb the corporate ladder (advance in career), hit the ground running (start strong), touch base (briefly contact), take the bull by the horns (act decisively), the ball is in your court (it’s your turn), on the same wavelength (in agreement), back to the drawing board (start over). Learners build the workplace-idiom range.
This worksheet builds B2 fluency with business-and-work idioms.
Worksheet preview
What’s inside:
- An idiom bank with 20 workplace expressions
- Matching task: idiom to meaning
- Gap-fill in workplace contexts (emails, meeting transcripts)
- Production task: rewrite a workplace memo using three business idioms appropriately
- Full Answer Key plus Teacher Notes
Common challenges: Business-idiom over-use is the recurring stylistic risk at B2 — let’s circle back, touch base, get our ducks in a row in a single email reads as forced. Frequency: think outside the box (high), back to the drawing board (medium). Register: appropriate in spoken meetings, careful with formal writing.
For: Adult and teenage learners (14+) at CEFR B2, in upper-intermediate classes, 1:1 lessons, or self-study — particularly working professionals. Maps onto BEC Vantage and Cambridge B2 First (FCE). Part of the Time, Work & Money Idioms collection — the natural next step is Idioms: Time and Change.
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