Idiom of the Week

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Week of January 26, 2009

“Rupert made no bones about the fact that he thought the new managing director was much better qualified than the old one.”

Make no bones about – v. To make your thoughts or feelings about a situation clear. To let people know your opinions.

“Marcia made no bones about telling everybody she was overjoyed with her new promotion.”

Week of January 19, 2009

“Her clients kept prolonging the closure deadline on the business deal, so Heidi wondered if they were getting cold feet.”

Get cold feet – v. To lose the courage to do something. To suddenly become afraid of a situation.

“Even though the investment plans looked good on paper, a lot of money was at stake and Jesse was getting cold feet about investing his hard earned money in the deal.”

Week of January 12, 2009

“Even though Sofia felt she was not as qualified for the position as the other applicants, she decided to put her best foot forward in the interview.”

Put your best foot forward – v. To do something as well as you can, to give something your best try. To make the most of a difficult situation.

“In anticipation of the auditor’s upcoming visit, the CEO reminded everybody to put their best foot forward.”

Week of January 5, 2009

“When I began my new job, a colleague informed me that a good rule of thumb was to always cc my supervisor on inter-office emails.”

Rule of thumb – n. a means of estimation based on a practical though unscientific rule. A useful principle with wide application but not intended to be strictly accurate.

“As a rule of thumb, Jerry always powers down his computer at he end of the day.