Top Business English Phrasal Verbs and Idioms

Vanessa: Hi, I’m Vanessa, from SpeakingEnglishwithVanessa.com.

Do you know any business idioms or phrasal
verbs?

Let’s talk about them.

Today you’re going to learn three business
phrasal verbs and three business idioms.

But as you might know, a lot of the videos
on my channel are about conversational English.

So when I wanted to make a video about business
English, I thought, “Who are some experts

who can help me with professional English
expressions?”

A-ha.

I have a great solution for you.

Today, I’m joined with Leila and Sabrah from
Love English; the Love English YouTube channel.

They are university English teachers.

So, every day they help students with professional,
polite English.

Whether that is passing an important English
exam, so that you can get a promotion, so

that you can get a better job, so that you
get a Visa to go to another country, they

are experts at this kind of professional,
polite English.

Make sure that after you watch this video,
you check out the link in the description

to the lesson that we did on their channel
about the top English interview questions

and answers.

This is a fun, entertaining and useful lesson
that we did together.

It’s really great to work with other English
teachers, and I hope that it will be to your

benefit.

Sabrah: Hello, everybody.

We’re Love English.

I’m Sabrah.

Leila: And I’m Leila.

Sabrah: Thank you so much, Vanessa, for having
us on your channel and asking us to help you

out with explaining some of these business
expressions and idioms.

Leila: So, we are British, if you can’t tell.

Our accents are British, and we’ve got a flag,
just to help you recognize where we’re from.

We are real teachers.

We teach at a British University college.

We help students go to university and improve
their language.

Sabrah: Thank you so much, Vanessa.

Let’s get on with the expressions.

Vanessa: The first phrasal verb that we’re
going to talk about is: To go over something.

The first idiom is: To cut corners.

Leila and Sabrah, how would you use these
in professional business situations?

To go over something.

Leila: Let’s start with a phrasal verb: To
go over something.

A very common phrasal verb, isn’t it, Sabrah?

Sabrah: Yes, it is.

Definitely, yeah.

Leila: When we go over something, we review.

Often a document or a plan, or even a business
proposal.

So, it means to review and look at in detail
to make sure there’s no problems.

Sabrah: So, if you want somebody to check
something at work you might say, “Can you

go over this for me?

I’m not sure about these numbers.

Could you go over the figures?”

Leila: Perfect example.

Yes, figures is something, and numbers.

Sabrah: Yes, and numbers.

Vanessa: To cut corners.

To cut corners.

Sabrah: An idiom that kind of means that opposite
is, to cut corners.

To cut corners means to reduce the amount
of time or money spent on doing something.

Often, it ends up that you don’t do such a
good job because you’ve cut corners.

Vanessa: Yes, exactly.

Sabrah: So, for example, if you cut corners
when you’re a student learning English, you

might get someone else to help you write your
essays.

Yeah, you go the quick way, but it might not
necessarily mean that you do such a good job

or that you learn as much.

How would we use it in business, Leila?

Leila: In business you may try and cut corners
when it comes to a project that you are investing

in.

So you might want to save some money and maybe
not have as many members of staff that you

need, which means that the job really isn’t
as good as it should be.

Sabrah: So generally it’s a bit of a negative
thing, guys, to cut corners.

I hope you guys aren’t doing that.

Vanessa: Thanks so much for going over these
important expressions.

You certainly didn’t cut any corners.

The next expressions that we’re going to talk
about are: To come up, and, better late than

never.

Leila and Sabrah, how would you use these?

To come up.

Leila: Okay.

Another phrase that you will probably hear
in the office is to come up.

Something comes up.

And this just simply means that another situation
arises.

To come up means to rise.

Another situation arises and you need to delay
what you are doing.

So you may have planned to have a meeting,
but something might come up.

You might get caught in a business phone call
that you have to take and you can’t go to

the meeting.

Sabrah: Yeah.

“So sorry.

This opportunity has come up.

I can’t miss it.”

Things like that.

Sometimes people will leave a meeting early
because they’ll say, “I’m really sorry, but

actually something more important has come
up.

I have to leave.

I’m so sorry.”

Things like that.

So yes, it is very, very common in the workplace.

And it happens unexpectedly, really.

Vanessa: Better late than never.

Better late than never.

Sabrah: Right.

This one, guys, actually it’s a great expression.

Leila: It is.

Sabrah: Because I actually say it.

Leila: Yes, you do.

Sabrah: I tend to be a bit of a late person.

I’m not the best with time management.

Leila knows.

So I will often say, better late than never.

Leila: No, I’ll say it when you turn up late.

Sabrah: Yeah, that’s true, actually.

Leila: “Oh, sorry, Leila.

I’m late.”

“Oh, all right.

Better late than never.”

Sabrah: So it means it’s better to arrive
than to never come, to never arrive.

So yes, I think it’s very easy to understand
that one, better late than never.

Leila: It’s not just talking about arriving,
though.

That’s a great example.

But it is meaning things like waiting for
a telephone call.

It might mean you’re waiting for somebody
to come back with an answer about a project.

Sabrah: Yes, coming in then.

Leila: Yeah, you’re expecting something.

Sabrah: Yes, exactly.

Vanessa: Thanks for that great explanation.

The next time that something comes up and
you’re late, you can say, “Well, better late

than never.”

The next two expressions that we’re going
to talk about are: to wrap up, and call it

a day.

Leila and Sabrah, what do these mean?

To wrap up something.

Leila: Another phrase with that, actually,
I would say we maybe use a little bit less

here in the U.K. but definitely I’ve heard
the Americans use this phrase …

Sabrah: It’s very big in America, yeah.

Leila: To wrap things up.

And basically it means to bring things to
a close, to finish.

So if we’re in a meeting, you might say, “All
right, let’s …”

Sabrah: “Let’s wrap things up, guys.

That’s it.

We don’t have any more time now, let’s wrap
it up.”

Leila: You might also be working on a project
with somebody and you might say, “Okay.

Let’s do this, this and this, and then wrap
things up.”

Sabrah: It’s also used very often in the film
making industry.

Leila: It is.

Sabrah: They say, “And that’s a wrap,” when
it’s finished.

Yes.

Not so much in business, but definitely used
in Hollywood.

Vanessa: To call it a day.

To call it a day.

Sabrah: Okay.

So an idiom for this is, “Let’s call it a
day.”

Let’s call it a day means that’s it now.

Let’s call it a day.

The day has finished.

So the working day is over.

Let’s call it the end of the day, for example.

Very common.

We say this to each other, actually.

Vanessa: We say it, yeah, yeah.

Sabrah: After we’ve been filming for Love
English, we’ll go, “Phew …”

Leila: “Let’s call it a day.”

Sabrah: “We’ve done enough now so let’s just
call it a day.”

So it just means that’s it.

The day is finished, let’s go home.

Leila: All right, guys.

We are going to call it a day now, and thank
you and Vanessa for watching this lesson and

joining us on this great collaboration.

Sabrah: Thank you so much for having us, again,
Vanessa, and hello to all your audience.

It’s great to get to know you guys a little
bit.

Thank you so much for having us, and good
luck in all your business meetings.

Leila: Absolutely.

Sabrah: Don’t cut any corners, and make sure
you go over things very carefully.

Vanessa: All right.

Let’s wrap up this lesson.

It’s time to call it a day.

Let me know in the comments below this lesson,
were any of these phrasal verbs or idioms

new to you?

Do you ever cut corners?

When did something come up?

What time are you ready to call it a day at
your job?

Thank you so much for joining me in this special
video with Leila and Sabrah from Love English.

Make sure you check out the other video we
did together on their channel about the top

interview questions and how to answer them
and how not to answer them.

You can click on the link in the description
or up here.

Thanks so much for joining me and I’ll see
you again next Friday.

Bye.

The next step is to download my free e-book.

Five steps to becoming a confident English
speaker.

You’ll learn what you need to do to speak
confidently and fluently.

Don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel
for more free lessons.

Thanks so much.

Bye.