“a tough break" 当不幸的事情发生时，我们称之为 "tough break“。
It was a tough break for us when Caroline quit. She was one of our top performers.
卡罗琳辞职对我们来说是一个艰难的时刻。她是我们最优秀的演员之一。
"ahead of the curve" 意思是比竞争对手更有优势。
We're investing a lot of money in research and development so we can stay ahead of the curve.
我们在研发上投入了大量资金，因此我们可以走在前面。
"ahead of the pack" 意味着比竞争对手更好或更成功。
If we want to stay ahead of the pack, we're going to have to work hard and continue to innovate.
如果我们想保持领先，我们就必须努力工作，继续创新。
"ASAP" 是尽快的缩写。
I need to finish these reports. My boss needs them ASAP.
我需要完成这些报告。我的老板需要他们尽快。
"At stake" 意思风险。
I'm a little nervous about giving this presentation. There's a lot at stake.
我对做这个报告有点紧张。有很多危险。
"back to square one" 意思是重新开始。
Our programmers identified what they thought the problem was with the software. After working for several hours, it turns out that the problem is something different. We're back to square one, unfortunately.
我们的程序员识别出他们认为软件有什么问题。在工作了几个小时后，结果发现问题有所不同。不幸的是，我们又回到了原点。
"back to the drawing board" 意思是从头开始，回到计划阶段。
The prototype wasn't successful. We have to go back to the drawing board.
原型不成功。我们得从头再来。
backroom deal “幕后交易”是指在公众不知情的情况下达成的协议或决定。
I think they got the government contract because of a backroom deal.
我认为他们得到政府合同是因为幕后交易。
“ballpark number/figure”是一个非常不准确的估计。
I'm not sure what a Super Bowl commercial costs, but to give you a ballpark figure I'd say about three million dollars.
我不确定超级碗的广告费用是多少，但我想给你们一个大概的数字，大概是300万美元。
“behind someone's back”的意思是在不知情的情况下，以不公平的方式做某事。
She didn't think it would be fair to go behind his back and talk to management, so she confronted him directly.
她不认为在他背后和管理层谈话是公平的，所以她直接质问他。
behind the scenes ”幕后“
They make it look so effortless, but they do a lot of hard work and planning behind the scenes.
他们让它看起来毫不费力，但是他们在幕后做了很多艰苦的工作和计划。
big picture “大局”
Even though we all have very specific tasks to do, our manager makes sure we don't lose sight of the big picture.
即使我们都有非常具体的任务要做，我们的经理也要确保我们不会忽略大局。
blue collar “蓝领工人”,与之相反的是“白领工人”。
It's a blue collar town with a lot of farmers and factory workers.
这是一个拥有大量农民和工厂工人的蓝领城镇。
“by the book”的意思是按照公司的政策或法律办事。
We are regularly audited by several regulatory agencies. It's important that we do everything by the book.
我们定期接受几家监管机构的审计。重要的是我们要按规矩办事。
"call it a day"的意思是决定停止一天的工作。
Well, John, it's 7:00 and I'm getting hungry. How about we call it a day?
约翰，七点了，我饿了。今天就到此为止怎么样?
catch someone off guard 猝不及防
Mike was caught off guard when they asked him to direct the meeting.
当迈克要求他主持会议时，他感到措手不及。
“cave in”意思是放弃或同意某人以前不想接受的事情。
The employees complained about the change in policy, but the supervisor refused to cave in.
雇员们抱怨政策的变化，但主管拒绝让步。
change of pace “节奏的改变”是不同于常规或计划的东西。
It's nice to go on business trips because it's a change of pace.
出差是件好事，因为这是常规节奏的改变。
“com up short”的意思是“做得不够”。
We often say that someone has "come up short" when someone fails to achieve a goal, but not completely.
我们常说，当一个人没有达到目标，但不是完全达到目标时，他就“做得不够”。
corner a market “垄断市场”
Apple has cornered the market on mp3 players. They have a large percentage of market share.
苹果已经垄断了mp3播放器市场。他们占有很大的市场份额。
“cut corners”的意思是走捷径，抄近路。
We don't cut corners on our luxury products.
我们的奢侈品没有捷径可走。
"cut one's losses" 意思是 “减少损失”
Our advertising campaign was expensive and not showing results, so we cut our losses.
我们的广告宣传费用昂贵，没有结果，所以我们减少了损失。
"Cut-throat" 非常激烈、咄咄逼人、冷酷无情
In business school, the competition was cut-throat.
在商学院，竞争非常激烈。
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