Summary

The web content provides insights into workplace idioms and their significance in professional success and communication.

Abstract

The article discusses various workplace idioms and their meanings, emphasizing the importance of understanding these expressions to navigate the professional environment successfully. It covers idioms such as "having too many balls in the air," which indicates managing too much work, and "doing your own laundry," which refers to handling trivial tasks. The piece also explains the origins of these idioms, such as the term "Brady Bunch" being derived from a 1970s TV show and now used to imply video conferencing. It touches on historical contexts, like the phrase "heads will roll," which once meant literal beheadings but now signifies severe repercussions for failure. The article encourages readers to recognize the nuances of these idioms to improve their communication and chances of success in the workplace.

Opinions

The author suggests that mastering workplace idioms is crucial for professional advancement.
There is a trend noted where talented employees are leaving corporate jobs for start-ups, which may require them to perform tasks outside their usual responsibilities.
The phrase "going out on a limb" is seen as an expression of taking risks or being overly optimistic, akin to climbing out on a thin tree branch.
The concept of a "glass ceiling" is presented as an invisible barrier preventing certain groups from advancing within an organization, with historical context provided by Marilyn Loden's coining of the term in 1978.
The author implies that true innovation

He Was A Terrible Boss. He Had Too Many Balls in the Air.

Learning these workplace idioms will help you be more successful.

Our workplace defines a significant portion of our lives and our personalities. Assuming adults spend 1/3rd of their life working, it is not surprising idioms have contributed a lot of content to the English language. Mastering some common workplace idioms will help you succeed.

He was a terrible boss. He had too many balls in the air.

Having too many balls in the air means a person is trying to manage too much work or many projects. The expression comes from the image of a juggler trying to control too many balls at one time.

Fatima was a senior manager at her old company, but she’ll have to do her own laundry at this start-up.

Recently, it has become trendy to leave cushy jobs in the corporate world to join start-up companies. Talented employees dream of joining an innovative company, with hopes of doing quite well and becoming rich when they can trade in their stock options. A typical trade-off is they may have to do many things they might not have done at a previous employer. Doing your own laundry means doing trivial tasks.

Alice, I can meet you at 2 pm. I’m meeting with the Brady Bunch before that.

Meeting with the Brady Bunch implies you’ll be in a video conference. The origin of the term Brady Bunch comes from a U.S. 1970s television sitcom that featured a family of eight. The show’s opening displayed the characters in a gallery view similar to the gallery view of Zoom™ or Teams™. A similar term, Hollywood Squares, references a 1970s TV game show in which the celebrity players were similarly seated.

The company’s new advertising campaign was a catastrophic failure. Heads will roll!

These days, the phrase heads will roll means that one or more employees will be held accountable, demoted, and possibly fired. Historically, the term had a much more literal meaning. Many people assume that early use references beheading traitors or political prisoners during the French Revolution of the 1700s or the English Tutor monarchy. (Phrasefinder.org). However, references found in print are only fairly modern. The earliest of which cites Adolph Hitler. My opinion is that the English king, Henry VIII, probably favored the term. Sources state he executed 57,000 people during his 36-year reign, of which 2 were his wives.

Zainab went out on a limb with her sales projections.

Given the facts, saying that someone has gone out on a limb implies that their statement is overly optimistic or risky.

When my daughter was eleven or twelve, she had a passion for climbing the oak tree in the backyard. Her goal was to climb as high as she could or as far out on the thinnest limb. The business expression of going out on a limb refers to the image of being out on a thin limb of a tree.

Fatima felt she had reached a glass ceiling at ABC Corporation, and it was time to move on.

The glass ceiling refers to invisible barriers to upward advancement by certain groups within an organization. Marilyn Loden, a mid-level manager of New York Telephone Company, first used this idiom in 1978. (Washington Post, 2018) The glass ceiling referred to the unspoken upper limit women could achieve, but more recently, it applies to any artificial barriers targeting any group.

Managers are expected to go by the book within the traditional corporate structure. However, true innovators rewrite the book.

Going by the book means following the rules and running the company by expected means. Going by the book is similar to running a tight ship defined in John Didn’t Come To Work Today. He’s Under The Weather.

It appears Fatima made a wise choice to go with XYZ, LLC. Her stock options are worth millions by getting in on the ground floor!

To get in on the ground floor, primarily referring to a business, means to start with an organization early in its life cycle. (source: The Free Dictionary) Imagine an image of a tall building with an elevator. You get in the elevator on the ground floor and ride it to the top.

Disclosure: This story has been edited by Grammarly.com

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