Entry 1
Company man
Meaning A worker especially loyal to the employer he works for.
Usage Worldwide.
Example
- Jack's been with us for thirty years and hardly missed a day. He's our number one company man.
Pronunciation
Idioms · 14 entries
Business
What does "Business" mean?
A worker especially loyal to the employer he works for.
Company man
Factory farming
USA, mid-20th century.
Flea market
Britain, early 20th century.
Get down to brass tacks
America, 19th century.
Glass ceiling
America, 20th century.
Go for broke
USA, mid 20th century.
In the bag
USA,, early 20th century.
Mates rates
Australian origin, 20th century.
Men in suits
USA, 1930s.
Off the record
USA, 1930s.
On the record
USA, 20th century.
Rags to riches
Britain, 18th century.
Red tape
Britain - 18th century.
Top banana
USA. Derived from burlesque shows where the top comic was given a banana.
Entry 2
Factory farming
Meaning Rearing livestock under industrial conditions.
Usage Worldwide.
Example
- I'm dead against factory farming of pigs. I prefer to see them out in the open air, rooting about for their food.
Pronunciation
Entry 3
Flea market
Meaning A market used to buy and sell inexpensive goods. The kind of place that might sell carpets infested with fleas.
Usage Worldwide.
Example
- I need some cheap costume jewelry for the school play. Maybe the flea market would be the place.
Pronunciation
Entry 4
Get down to brass tacks
Meaning Concern yourself with the basic and important realities.
Usage Worldwide.
Example
- Were broke. This is no time for fanciful ideas - we need to get down to brass tacks and raise some money.
Pronunciation
Entry 5
Glass ceiling
Meaning An unacknowledged or unseen discriminatory barrier that prevents women and minorities from rising to positions of power.
Usage Worldwide.
Example
- I've more experience, better qualifications and work harder than my male co-workers, yet I still don't get promoted and no one tells me why. I guess that's what they call the glass ceiling.
Pronunciation
Entry 6
Go for broke
Meaning Put every resource into getting a particular result.
Usage Worldwide.
Example
- We needed a goal so we went for broke to score and forgot about defence.
Pronunciation
Entry 7
In the bag
Meaning Something that is secured.
Usage Worldwide.
Example
- I knew when they sent all the other interviewees home that my job application was in the bag.
Pronunciation
Entry 8
Mates rates
Meaning A discount price offered to friends.
Usage Worldwide, but most common down under.
Example
- I can't really afford to get the roof fixed but my pal Jim is a builder, maybe hell give me mates rates.
Pronunciation
Entry 9
Men in suits
Meaning Conventionally minded and dressed men who hold positions of authority. Also called just 'suits'.
Usage Worldwide.
Example
- Everyone in the office wanted a Santas and Elves party on Christmas Eve, but the suits said no.
Pronunciation
Entry 10
Off the record
Meaning Something said in confidence that the one speaking doesn't want repeated.
Usage Worldwide.
Example
- The minister won't talk to reporters since his last off the record briefing got into the papers.
Pronunciation
Entry 11
On the record
Meaning Something said in confidence that the one speaking is happy to have repeated.
Usage Worldwide.
Example
- As finance minister I'm on the record as supporting increased spending on welfare, and you can quote me on that.
Pronunciation
Entry 12
Rags to riches
Meaning From poverty to wealth.
Usage Worldwide.
Example
- J K Rowling was on benefits when she wrote Harry Potter. That's a real rags to riches story.
Pronunciation
Entry 13
Red tape
Meaning Bureaucracy, especially in public business.
Usage Worldwide.
Example
- It's hardly worth applying for a grant from the council. There's so much red tape to contend with it will take years.
Pronunciation
Entry 14
Top banana
Meaning The leading, most important, person in a group or organisation.
Usage Mostly USA.
Example
- Russia is supposed to be a democracy but everyone knows Putin is top banana and what he says goes.
Pronunciation