The Business English podcast for professionals on the move

BEP 57 – Water Cooler Chitchat: Sports Idioms 1

Clayton: Welcome to today’s show, the first in an ongoing series where we listen in
on some typical chitchat around the office water cooler. You’ll find a water cooler in
offices around the world – usually in the break room where employees gather to
drink a cup of coffee or tea and take a rest from work.

And during these breaks, you might meet with a colleague and exchange words
about life, your jobs, your company, sports, politics or whatever. So “Water cooler
Chichat” has come to refer to all types of informal communication that take place at
the office.

Peter: Okay, so a water cooler is just a machine that stores and gives out water
right?

Clayton: Hmm Huh.

Pete: And can you explain

“chitchat” for us?

Clayton: Chitchat just means

light informal conversation –
small talk. Sometimes it
includes “gossip” – rumors or
private information, true or
untrue – about other people or
companies.

Peter: So this series will be

focusing on informal
communication?

Clayton: Yeah, that’s right, in our Water Cooler Chitchats, we’ll explore various
aspects of informal communication, starting with today’s show on sports idioms.

Peter: Great, but everyone seems to have their own definition of what an idiom is
– how would you define it?

Clayton: Well, for our purposes, an idiom is basically just any phrase or expression
whose meaning is not literal, that is, a phrases that’s not clear from just the words
alone. Learning idioms is essential for communicating in any English speaking
environment, not just in informal communication but in all kinds of interactions.
That’s because there is heavy use of idioms throughout business. Even if you don’t
know how to use them, for listening comprehension you need to understand them.

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Peter: So these sports idioms are not just useful around the water cooler, but also
in the meeting room or the board room?

Clayton: That’s right. Because business competition is so frequently understood

and talked about in terms of athletic competition, sports idioms are probably the
single most common kind of idiom in business English.

Peter: All right, and a little background on the dialog?

Clayton: Sure, we’ll be listening in on Jan and Jen, who work in the same office of
Ambient, an American telecoms company, gossiping around the water cooler. They
are discussing the latest industry news: Accent, a major European player in the
market, has just announced the takeover or buy out of Ambient’s main
competitor,TelStar.

Peter: This takeover fits in quite nicely to the merger theme we’re developing.

Clayton: That’s right. As you listen, pay attention to the idioms that Jan and Jen
use. Do you recognize the games these idioms are based on? Don’t worry if you
don’t understand them very much. After you listen to the debrief, you will be a
sports idiom pro!

And while you listen, see if you can answer these questions. You can check your
answers on the website.

Listening Questions

1) Do Jan and Jen think Accent’s takeover of TelStar was a good idea?

2) Why was there a delay in the takeover?

Dialog

Jan: So d’ya hear about the TelStar takeover?

Jen: Yep, I just saw it on Google news.
Jan: It looks like Accent really hit a home run with this one.
Jen: You think? I thought it was way overpriced.
Jan: I don’t know. There’s a lot of value there.
Jen: Anyway, I’m surprised it went through. The way the TelStar shareholders
were stalling for time, I thought they weren’t going to play ball for a while.
Jan: Yeah, I thought Accent was going to fumble, but they’ve really taken the ball
and run with it.

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Debrief

Since Ambient is an American company, most of the idioms Jan and Jen use come
from the American context. In U.S. business talk, baseball and American football
idioms are very common.

The first idiom that Jan uses comes from baseball.

Jan: So d’ya hear about the TelStar takeover?

Jen: Yep, I just saw it on Google news.
Jan: It looks like Accent really hit a home run with this one.
Jen: You think? I thought it was way overpriced.

First note the contraction of “do you” to “d’ya” in “So d’ya hear.” Practice saying
that: “So dy’a hear about…” <pause> This is a common way to start a story or
conversation, so it is a useful social English expression.

Now how does Jan feel about Accent’s takeover of TelStar? He says, “It looks like
Accent really hit a home run with this one.”

Peter: Sorry, Clayton, I don’t get it. What’s a home run?

Clayton: Well, to understand this and many of the other idioms in the dialog, you
need to understand baseball, one of American’s best loved sports.

Peter: Okay, tell me about baseball.

Clayton: Remember in baseball a “pitcher” throws or “pitches” the ball to a

“batter” who tries to hit the ball with a wooden stick called a “bat.” If he can hit the
ball, the batter then tries to run around a circle of four “bases,” called “first base,”
“second base,” “third base” and “home base” or “home plate.” If he can reach a
base before being “tagged” or touched by the ball, then he is “safe” and waits for
the next batter to hit the ball again so he can advance further.

Peter: So home base is where the batter starts from.

Clayton: Yes, and it’s also where he finishes, his goal. The aim of the game is for
the batter to run around the bases and “get home” or “get back to home base.”
That’s how you score points.

Peter: Got that, and what’s a home run?

Clayton: I’m getting to that. The game is played in a field called a “ballpark” and
the best result for the batter is that he can hit the ball clear out of the park. In this
way he automatically scores a point. This is called a “home run” because the batter
can run all the way around the bases in one run without anyone trying to stop him.

Peter: I see. It’s like the best possible result.

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Clayton: Yes, that’s right. So when Jan says “Accent really hit a home run” with
the takeover of TelStar, he means it was a really big success, something that went
beyond or exceeded everyone’s expectations.

Let’s look at another couple examples of this idiom in use.

 Larry really hit a home run with his business – they’re making tons of money.
 Last week in that job interview, I hit a home run. They’ve offered me the
position.

What happens next? Jen thinks that TelStar was “overpriced” or too expensive
whereas Jan says “there is a lot of value there,” in other words, TelStar has a lot of
value and is worth the money. Then Jen says

Jen: Anyway, I’m surprised it went through. The way the TelStar shareholders
were stalling for time, I thought they weren’t going to play ball for a while.

Jen is surprised that the deal “went through.” Here to “go through” means to
succeed.

TelStar shareholders, the people or organizations who “hold shares” or own stock,
were “stalling for time.” This expression “stalling” is used in a number of sports. It
means to delay on purpose, usually to achieve some benefit. For example, in
international football or soccer, sometimes a team that is ahead near the end of the
game will “stall for time” by passing the ball back and forth to avoid risking their
lead.

Let’s listen to a couple more uses of the idiom “stalling for time.”

 I think the customer has been stalling for time while they negotiate with another
vendor.
 We’re going to be way past our deadline. The best we can do is stall for time
while we finish up work.

Now, let’s go back again to what Jan just said: “The way the TelStar shareholders
were stalling for time, I thought they weren’t going to play ball for a while.” To play
ball with someone means to cooperate with someone or to do business. This is
another idiom that comes from baseball. It’s a very common expression in business
and politics in the U.S., so it’s important to learn.

Literally, Jen means, “Judging from the way in which TelStar shareholders were
using delaying tactics, I thought they were not going to cooperate with an Accent
buy out.”

Listen to a couple more examples of “to play ball.”

 Four out of five of the countries have agreed to the proposal, but one still
refuses to play ball.
 I know that we’ve had our differences in the past, but now we need to get
together and play ball.

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Great, that’s about all we have time for today. Before we finish, let’s try a quick
practice.

You’ll hear a series of three sentences corresponding to the three main idioms we
covered today. The sentences use literal language. After each beep, rephrase or
restate the sentence you just heard using the appropriate idiom that we learned
today. For example, if you hear “I know that we’ve had our differences in the past,
but now we need to get together and cooperate,” after the beep you’ll say
something like, “I know that we’ve had our differences in the past, but now we
need to get together and play ball.” After you’ve given it a try, you’ll hear an
example answer.

This practice develops your ability to actively use the idioms we learned.

Okay, are you ready? Let’s give it a try.

Cue 1: George has had a huge success with this idea.

Learner:
Answer 1: George has hit a home run with this idea.

Cue 2: I can tell they’re just trying to delay.

Learner:
Answer 2: I can tell they’re just trying to stall for time.

Cue 3: By taking them to court, we were hoping to force them to cooperate with us.
Learner:
Answer 3: By taking them to court, we were hoping to force them to play ball with us.

How did you do? Try rewinding and doing it again. Also, be sure to check out the
study notes at www.businessenglishpod.com, where you’ll find vocabulary,
transcripts, and more exercises to practice these idioms. In addition, you can now
sign up for our online learning center, where you’ll find many additional online
quizzes and exercises to test and develop your skills.

That’s about all we have time for today. Be sure to come back for Sports Idioms 2.
We’ll be hearing more from Jan and Jen’s dialog and studying further examples of
idiomatic language that they use. Among other things, we’ll learn what Jen means
when she says she thought Accent was going “to fumble” or “that they’ve really
“taken the ball and run with it,” and we’ll be looking at the idioms “to strike out,”
“to step up to the plate.”

That’s all for now. Thanks for listening and see you next time!

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Links

Baseball: http://www.answers.com/topic/baseball?cat=biz-fin

American Football: http://www.answers.com/topic/american-football?cat=health

American Sports Idioms: http://sportsidioms.com/page/1.htm

Example Phrases

1. Really hit a home run: To have a big success

 Larry really hit a home run with his business – they’re making tons of
money.
 Last week in that job interview, I hit a home run. They’ve offered me the
position.

2. Stalling for time: To delay

 I think the customer has been stalling for time while they negotiate with
another vendor.
 We’re going to be way past our deadline. The best we can do is stall for time
while we finish up work.

3. To play ball with someone: To cooperate with someone or to do

business.
 Four out of five of the countries have agreed to the proposal, but one still
refuses to play ball.
 I know that we’ve had our differences in the past, but now we need to get
together and play ball.

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Language Review

A. Many of the idioms we are studying in Sports Idioms 1 and 2 are based on
baseball, a favorite American sport. Understanding baseball will not only help you
comprehend the idioms but also remember them too. Review the description of the
game below by filling in the blanks with the words in the box. The first has been
done for you.

to tag Bases bat batter

pitcher Plate to pitch home

In baseball a 1) throws or 2) the ball to a

3) who tries to hit the ball with a wooden stick called a
4) . If he can hit the ball, the batter then tries to run around a
circle of four 5) , called “first base,” “second base,” “third base”
and “home base” or “home 6) .” If he can reach a base before being
7) or touched by the ball, then he is “safe” and waits for the next
batter to hit the ball again so he can further. The best result is called a 8)
run because you hit the ball out of the ballpark and can run all away around the
bases.

B. Paraphrase the sentences below by rewriting them with idioms that we have
learned in this episode.

1. When I realized that the other party to the negotiation was just delaying, I
decided to put more pressure on them: I said, “This is my last offer, take it
or leave it.”
2. If we keep working hard, one of these days were going to have a huge
success.
3. If the vendor is not going to cooperate by talking to us about how to settle
their accounts, we’ll be forced to take legal action.

Study Strategy

An important strategy for learning idioms is to understand the image or metaphor

that they are based on. We often understand business competition in terms of
athletic competition, which is why sports idioms are so common in business English.
So by understanding the basic rules of sports, you are giving yourself the tools you
need to comprehend a lot of common business idioms. You don’t need to be an
expert on baseball, but you should understand the basic rules so you know what is
meant, for example, by “step up to the plate” (which we’ll study next time) or “hit a
home run.” What kind of sports idioms are popular in your language? Are they the
same or different to idioms in English? Comparing idiomatic language from your
native language to the foreign languages you are trying to learn is another great
memory aid.

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Answers

Listening Questions

1) Do Jan and Jen think Accent’s takeover of TelStar was a good idea?
They seem to have a little disagreement on this issue. Jan says Accent “hit a
home run,” that is scored a big success. Jen thinks the deal was
“overpriced,” or too expensive.
2) Why was there a delay in the takeover?
Apparently the shareholders were “stalling for time,” that is, using delaying
tactics to get a better deal.

Language Exercises
A.
1. pitcher
2. pitches
3. batter
4. bat
5. bases
6. plate
7. tagged
8. home

B.
1. When I realized that the other party to the negotiation was stalling for time, I
decided to put more pressure on them: I said, “This is my last offer, take it
or leave it.”
2. If we keep working hard, one of these days were going to hit a home run.
3. If the vendor is not going to play ball by talking to us about how to settle
their accounts, we’ll be forced to take legal action.

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