Page 166 - Perfect Phrases ESL Everyday Business

Appendix B

ing a mistake. “Ivan made another sale. That’s five sales and he’s only
been here a couple of days. He’s batting a thousand.”
Throw a curve: A curve is a pitch that is purposefully not thrown
straight in order to confuse the batter. In business or personal life, to
be thrown a curve is to be confronted with an unexpected problem.
“The boss threw me a curve; he wants the report tomorrow. I thought
it was due next week.”
A team player: A team player performs well with the other mem-
bers of his team. In business or personal life, a team player works
cooperatively with other members of his or her organization. “During
the job interview Human Resources asked if I was a team player. Since
I like to cooperate with other people on projects, I said yes.”
A ballpark figure: This is an approximation of the size of the
crowd at a game. In business or personal life, it is an approximation of
how much, how many, and so on. “The new office is expected to cost
$20,000, but that’s only a ballpark figure. It could be higher or lower.”
Way off base: This occurs when a runner doesn’t touch the base.
In business or personal life, it is when one is very wrong about some-
thing. “I didn’t want to come to the United States because I thought
my English was weak, but I was way off base. I understand everyone
and they understand me.”
To play hardball: This is to play a very aggressive game with no
thought to injury to oneself or to others. In business or personal life, it
describes someone who is very competitive. “During the sales meet-
ing, Ivan criticized every sales technique I talked about. He really plays
hardball; I can’t compete with him.”
Rain check: If a game is called off because of rain, people use
the part of the ticket they have kept to attend a future game. In busi-
ness or personal life, if one cannot attend a meeting or appointment,
the other person says, “I’ll give you a rain check and we’ll meet next
week.” “I had an appointment with a customer today. When he had to
cancel, I gave him a rain check for Thursday or Friday.”
Having two strikes against you: This is not a good position to
be in whether in baseball or in business or personal life. Since there

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