Business Vocabulary Idioms: Baseball

Learning objectives

In this article, you will

• learn about some baseball expressions used in business
• practice key vocabulary on baseball and business
• practice adverbs.

Newsmart Level 3 (B1+, TOEIC 389–550, TOEFL iBT 41–52, IELTS 4.5–5)

As we saw in a previous business skills blog, the correct use of an idiom in a business conversation can show that you’re a business insider. In turn, that could help you to achieve your business goals! American business vocabulary and idioms originate from all walks of life, but some of the most popular ones come from sport. Given the American people’s shared love of sport, this isn’t a big surprise.

Some sporting idioms are fairly easy for a non-native to figure out because they come from sports that are played globally. Idioms like “drop the ball” or “a level playing field” could apply to many sports and are relatively universal. Others are more specific to the United States, however, and may need some further explanation. One particularly American group of idioms comes from baseball (a sport also known as “America’s pastime”). Before we look at some baseball idioms in action, let’s test them to make sure you know what they mean.

• Touch base
• Knock it out of the park
• Ballpark figure
• Step up to the plate
• Left field

Now let’s see some of these idioms at work in a scenario where a new graduate is trying to find a job.

After Joe graduated from college, he started looking for a job. Unfortunately, he didn’t prepare properly for the first interview and didn’t get to first base. The interviewer threw him a curveball by asking him about the company’s share price, and Joe couldn’t even give a ballpark figure. The question came completely out of left field and Joe struck out by not knowing what to say. He decided that in the next interview he would really step up to the plate and make sure he had all his bases covered. He did extensive research on the company and during the interview he was confident and on the ball. At the end he was told that he had knocked it out of the park and was asked to begin immediately!

As you can see, baseball idioms and sporting idioms in general can be used to talk about both success and failure. In this way they are perfectly adapted to the language of business. Competition is also central to business vocabulary, and you can read about the winners and losers every day in Newsmart!

Photo credit: Rob Tringali for Getty

Originally published at www.getnewsmart.com.