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 clients.

商务英语中充满了让非母语使用者感到困惑的习语。因此和客户交流时用到一部分习语很重要。

Idioms are often classed under topics like animals, food, parts of the body, sports and so on.

习语可以按话题分类为动物、食物、身体部位、体育等。

In this blog 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，我会探索体育和商务之间的紧密关系。如果你看到体育和商务之间的共同特性，就会明白为什么商务英语中有这么多体育和比赛用语。

Both Business and Sportsr require certain skills:

商务和体育都要求特定的技能：

need self- confidence

需要自信

take planning

有计划性

use strategies and tactics

使用策略和技巧

take concentration

要求专注

teamwork may be important

团队合作很重要

Having established their similarities, let’s take a look at ten idioms we use, in what situations and what sport they relate to.

清楚了它们的共同点，让我们来看10个习语在什么情景下使用，和哪种运动相关。

1. To keep your cards close to your chest – don’t reveal your plans

1. To keep your cards close to your chest——避免透露计划

Ex: I kept my cards close to my chest during the negotiation¹. (Card games)

例句：在谈判中我藏起了我的底牌。（卡牌游戏）

2. Poker²-faced – expressionless (comes from the game of poker where you must not let your face reveal whether you have a good or bad card)

2. Poker-faced——面无表情（来源于扑克游戏中你不能让你的表情泄露自己牌的好坏）

Ex: The clients sat poker-faced all through my sales pitch. It was so unnerving. (Poker)

例句：在我推销的整个过程中，客户们都面无表情地坐着。这令人很不安。（扑克）

3. Knocked me for six – surprised and upset me

3. Knocked me for six——惊讶和不安

Ex: Jenny has just announced that she’s leaving which has knocked me for six. I really enjoyed working with her. (Ball Games)

例句：珍妮刚刚说她要辞职了，这让我十分沮丧。我很喜欢和她一起工作。（球类运动）

4. Play the trump³ card/ace – use the advantage especially when others do not know about it

4. Play the trump card/ace——在别人不知道的情况下利用自己的优势。

Ex: The CEO played his trump card by promising⁴ a dividend⁵ payout at the shareholders⁶’ meeting. (Card Game)

例句：CEO在股东大会上打出的王牌是保证分红。（卡牌游戏）

5. A whole new ball game – a completely different situation

5. A whole new ball game——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)

例句：如果我们讨论扩展业务的话，事情就完全不同了。

6. To play hard ball – to be so determined⁷ to get what you want that you will use unfair methods to get it.

6. To play hard ball——下决心达到目的，甚至使用不正当的方法。

Ex: The people here like to play hardball which can be very challenging. (Ball Games)

例句：这里的人喜欢玩硬的，这很有挑战性。（球类比赛）

7. Don’t pull any punches – speak in an honest and direct way without being tactful

7. Don’t pull any punches——直接坦诚地说，没有城府。

Ex: The CEO didn’t pull any punches when he told the board that the company was in trouble. (Boxing)

例句：CEO直截了当地告诉董事会说公司处在危难之中。（拳击）

8. Below the belt – an unfair attack (in boxing that is not allowed)

8. Below the belt——不正当的攻击（这在拳击比赛中被禁止）

Ex: There was no need to mention my personal problems to the press. That was below the belt. (Boxing)

例句：没必要向媒体提及我的私人问题。这种攻击不厚道。

9. Throw in the towel – giving up and admitting defeat

9. Throw in the towel——放弃，承认失败

Ex: I think we need to accept things as they are and throw in the towel before we lose any more money. (Boxing)

例句：我认为我们需要接受现实，在损失更多钱之前放弃。

10. Hold all the cards – to be in a strong position

10. Hold all the cards——处于有利的位置

Ex: Management found that the trade union held all the cards during the pay talks. (Card Games)

例句：管理层发现公会在薪资谈判中占优势。

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.

熟悉其它体育习语的一个方法就是用搜索引擎查找它们在具体运动中的例子，以及在商务中的用法。选择几个你喜欢并且可能用得到的，尝试在和母语人士交谈的时候使用。在广告和文章里找出他们就能看到这些习语是怎样在语境中使用的。