Business English is full of idioms that can often confuse non-native speakers of English. It’s therefore important to cover some of these idioms with English learners.
商務(wù)英語中總是充滿了讓非英語母語者們十分困惑的習(xí)語。因此，給英語學(xué)習(xí)者帶來一些習(xí)語就非常重要了。

As a Business English trainer I often have a session on idiomatic expressions with my clients so that they can feel more comfortable in their meeting and negotiations with native speakers.
作為商務(wù)英語培訓(xùn)師，我總是為我的客戶準備專門的習(xí)語系列講座，這樣他們在跟英語母語者開會和討價還價時就會感覺更加放松舒適。

Idioms are often classed under topics like animals, food, parts of the body, sports and so on.
習(xí)語總是根據(jù)其主題被分成各種類別，如動物，食物，身體部位，體育運動等等。

In this post, I’d like to explore the strong relationship that exists between sports and business. If you look at the qualities that sports and business share, you’ll begin to see why Business English has so many sports and games idioms.
本文中，我將帶領(lǐng)大家來探索體育運動和商務(wù)之間的緊密聯(lián)系。如果你看看體育運動和商務(wù)之間共同的特質(zhì)，你會開始發(fā)現(xiàn)為何商務(wù)英語中有那么多的體育運動和游戲的習(xí)慣用語。

Both Business and Sports:
商務(wù)和體育運動共通之處：

require certain skills
掌握某種技巧

are competitive
具有競技性

need self- confidence
需要自信

take planning
需要籌謀

use strategies and tactics
運用策略和技巧

take concentration
需要聚精會神

teamwork may be important
團隊合作可能很重要

Having established their similarities, let’s take a look at ten idioms we use, in what situations and what sport they relate to.
探討了相似之處后，讓我們一起來看看下面10個我們常用的習(xí)語用于何種場合，與哪些運動有關(guān)聯(lián)。

1. To keep your cards close to your chest – don’t reveal your plans
將牌藏在胸前-不要泄露自己的計劃。

Ex: I kept my cards close to my chest during the negotiation. (Card games)
例子：在爭論的過程中，我始終保持警惕，深藏不漏。（卡片游戲）

2. Poker-faced – expressionless (comes from the game of poker where you must not let your face reveal whether you have a good or bad card)
撲克臉-面無表情的（來源于撲克游戲，玩撲克時無論你的牌好還是牌壞你都不能讓表情泄露了底牌）

Ex: The clients sat poker-faced all through my sales pitch. It was so unnerving. (Poker)
例子：在我整個銷售進攻過程中客戶始終面無表情。這讓人感到有些氣餒。

3. Knock sb for six – to shock or upset someone very much, or to make someone very ill
把某人震六了-使某人感到十分震驚或沮喪，或者讓某人感到難受

Ex: Jenny has just announced that she’s leaving which has knocked me for six. I really enjoyed working with her. (Ball Games)
例子：珍妮剛剛宣布了她要離開的事，這讓我感到十分震驚。我真的很喜歡和她共事。（球類游戲）

4. Play one’s trump card – use the advantage especially when others do not know about it
打出王牌-利用優(yōu)勢，尤其是別人不知道的優(yōu)勢

Ex: The CEO played his trump card by promising a dividend payout at the shareholders’ meeting. (Card Game)
例子：首席執(zhí)行官打出王牌，在股東大會上承諾分紅派息。（紙牌游戲）

5. A whole new ball game – a completely different situation
一個全新的球局-一個完全不同的局面

Ex: This is a whole new ball game if we’re talking about expanding the business. (Ball Games)
例子：如果我們要擴大業(yè)務(wù)規(guī)模，那將是一個全新的局面（事情一旦發(fā)生變化，結(jié)局將無法預(yù)測）。（球類游戲）

6. To play hard ball – to be so determined to get what you want that you will use unfair methods to get it.
采取強硬、狠毒的手段-下定了決心要得到你想要得到的以至于要采取一些不正當?shù)氖侄蝸磉_到目的

Ex: The people here like to play hard ball which can be very challenging. (Ball Games)
例子：這里的人喜歡搞些激進極端的行為，可能會極具挑戰(zhàn)性。

7. Don’t pull any punches – speak in an honest and direct way without being tactful
不打虛拳-坦誠直言，沒有顧慮

Ex: The CEO didn’t pull any punch when he told the board that the company was in trouble. (Boxing)
例子：CEO在告知董事會公司處于麻煩之中時并沒有打太極左顧右慮，而是坦誠直言。（拳擊運動）

8. Below the belt – an unfair attack (in boxing that is not allowed)
腰帶下方-不正當?shù)墓簦ㄔ谌瓝舯荣愔惺遣辉试S的）

Ex: There was no need to mention my personal problems to the press. That was below the belt. (Boxing)
例子：無需向媒體提及我的個人問題。這是不合理的。

9. Throw in the towel – giving up and admitting defeat
扔毛巾認輸-認輸，承認失敗

Ex: I think we need to accept things as they are and throw in the towel before we lose any more money. (Boxing)
例子：我認為我們應(yīng)該接受事實，在我們輸更多錢之前認輸。

10. Hold all the cards – to be in a strong position
全盤候住-掌控整體局勢，占上風(fēng)

Ex: Management found that the trade union held all the cards during the pay talks. (Card Games)
例子：管理層發(fā)現(xiàn)在整個薪資討論過程中工會一直占上風(fēng)。（紙牌游戲）

A good way to familiarize yourself with other sports idioms is to type in a sport in a search engine and look for examples of idioms linked to that sport and how they are used in business. Select the ones you like and are likely to use and try using them with native speakers. Look out for them in articles and advertisements so that you see these idioms used in context.
想要熟知運動方面的商務(wù)習(xí)語，有個好辦法，你可以在搜索引擎中輸入一項體育運動，然后尋找相關(guān)的習(xí)語以及這些習(xí)語在商務(wù)中運用方法。選擇一些你喜歡并很有可能應(yīng)用的習(xí)語去與英語母語使用者交流應(yīng)用。在文章和廣告中去發(fā)現(xiàn)這些習(xí)語的身影，這樣你就可以了解它們在上下文情景中的應(yīng)用了。

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