There are a lot of idioms talking about time as if it were money.

You can spend time.

• I spent 3 hours doing that.

You can waste time.

• I wasted an hour waiting for her.

Time can be a waste.

• It's not worth going. The whole exhibition is a waste of time.

You can value time.

• I value every minute I get to spend with my baby.

You can run out of time.

• I didn't get the project finished as I would have liked. I ran out of time.

You can spare time.

• Can you spare me a few minutes?

Time can be precious.

• I travel a lot so the time I spend at home is very precious to me.

You can afford time.

• We can't afford to spend any more time on this. We have a lot to cover today.

You can save time.

• I've already dug out the old files to save time today.

You can be short of time.

• We're short of the time we need to do a good job on this.

You can have plenty of time.

· We have plenty of time to worry about this later.

War Idioms

There are a lot of expressions used in business which are borrowed from the army and from war. Here are some examples:

You can 'gain ground' on your competition.

• We've gained ground in the Japanese market. We now have a 20% market share, up from just 7% last year.

You ' don't give up without a fight.'

• I don't think we should just withdraw the product because we have such a poor share of the market. Let's not give up without a fight. Let's try some other marketing strategies.

You may need to 'reinforce' your marketing position.

• Our sales team is doing badly against the competition. We may need to reinforce the team with some new recruits.

You can 'join forces' with another company.

• In China, we've decided to join forces with a local company and set up a joint venture.

If you receive a lot of enquiries, you can say you are 'bombarded' with them.

• After our last radio campaign, we were bombarded with calls to our customer lines.

If you don't want your boss to notice you, it's a good idea to 'keep your head down'.

• The boss is very angry. It would be a good idea to keep your head down for a few days.

You can 'set your sights on ' an objective.

• I've set my sights on being the next sales manager.

Often different departments of a company have a 'battle' over budgets.

• There isn't much money and Accounts and Marketing are having a big battle over the advertising budget.

Some people seem to do things which make them look bad – they are 'their own worst enemy'.

• He's always irritating the boss by being late for meetings. He's his own worst enemy.

Most companies set 'targets' for their employees.

• Our target this year is to increase sales by 10%.

You can 'capture' a larger share of a market.

• We need to capture more of the youth market.

When businesses fail because of a poor economy, they can be said to be 'casualties'.

• They were a casualty of the last recession.

If there are a lot of potential problems in doing something, it can be described as a 'minefield'.

• The workers are very unhappy and so are the customers. Taking over that company would be a real minefield.

Back Idioms

Learn new expressions in English with these exercises:

I don't suppose I need to tell you that 'back' can mean the part of your body that you can lie on or, more generally, the opposite of 'front'.

• I've hurt my back and I can't lift anything heavy.
• You'll find it in the back of the garage.

'Back' is used in lots of idiomatic expressions. How many of them do you know?

If you 'put your back into' something, you work really hard.

• If we want to dig that pond today, we're going to have to really put our backs into it. The ground is so hard.

If somebody is giving you orders/nagging you etc., you can ask them to 'get off your back'. This is not very polite!

• I know you are my boss but could you just get off my back for a bit and let me work in peace?

If you do something well you 'deserve a pat on the back'.

• He deserves a pat on the back for the way he has got everybody working so hard.

Sometimes people criticize you but not to your face. They talk 'behind your back'.

• I hate people who won't say anything to your face but talk about you behind your back.

Sometimes we agree to do something for somebody if they agree to do something for you – 'you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours'.

• I'll stand in for you at the meeting if you'll work late for me on Thursday. You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours.

If you stop doing something that you used to do regularly, you 'turn your back on' it.

• I used to go out to nightclubs every night but I turned my back on all that when I started working for this company.