Category: Business English
Sanewashing
WotD: Sanewashing In today’s world, the term sanewashing has unfortunately emerged as a critical phrase in the conversation about American politics. Sanewashing or sane-washing is trying to minimize or reduce the radical aspects of a person or idea to make them appear more acceptable to a wider audience. I have grown tired of watching influential…
Micromanager
WotD: Micromanager Micromanagement is a leadership style characterized by excessive control, scrutiny of details, and a lack of trust in employees’ abilities to work independently. While some micromanagers may have good intentions, this management style often leads to negative consequences in the workplace. For this reason, micromanagers need to find a balance between control and…
Double Jeopardy
WotD: Double Jeopardy To explain double jeopardy, we’ll first have to step into the law courts and then into the life of a middle-aged woman. I know it sounds complicated, but bear with me here. Under North American laws, a person cannot be tried for the same criminal offence twice. What that means is if…
Deadbeat landlord
WotD: Deadbeat landlord Before looking at what a deadbeat landlord is, we need to make sure you know what it means to be a deadbeat. Someone who is a deadbeat is lazy and good for nothing. They will never offer to help, and if you ask them to contribute, they will find a way to…
Lose your shirt
Idiom: Lose your shirt At first glance, you may look at this idiom and wonder how the heck someone can lose their shirt. Of course, sometimes you can see a sad pair of shoes in a parking lot or a single, lonely shoe on the side of a road, but how often do you see…
End user
Word of the Day: End user People are not people anymore. We are consumers. After purchasing a product or service, we become end users. It’s no joke and no secret that the business–customer relationship is declining in our consumerist societies. I dislike that last term end user. If you don’t know what it is, it’s the person…
Sign off
WotD: Sign off Most things need approval of some kind. A person in authority will sign off on something when they want to approve it or give a subordinate permission to do something. If a child wants to go to a sleepover at their friend’s house, they must first get their parents to sign off on it.…
Don’t fish off the company pier
Proverb: Don’t fish off the company pier Keep your work and private lives separate; in other words, don’t fish off the company pier. We all know we don’t keep every fish we catch. Catch and release in the company pond is not a good idea because some fish come back to bite you. Don’t fish off…
White Knight
Word of the Day: White Knight Let’s talk business. When a company is in financial trouble, one option to get out of it is to find a white knight. A white knight is another company or even a person who can buy the company or invest enough money into it to get it out of…
Laissez-faire
Word of the Day: Laissez-faire There has been much media coverage about Renho, the new leader of the Democratic Party in Japan, and her dual Taiwanese-Japanese nationality. It was also reported that the Japanese government had taken a laissez-faire attitude towards dual citizenship. Although officially, Japanese citizens should give up their other nationality and possess…
