Idioms & Business Jargon
Common idioms and tech jargon you'll hear at work (工作中常听到的习语和科技行话)
Why This Matters (为什么这重要)
Even fluent English speakers from non-Western backgrounds often miss when colleagues use idioms ("let's circle back") or jargon ("low-hanging fruit"). Missing one phrase = missing the point of an entire conversation. Worse, asking "what does that mean?" can feel embarrassing — even though you should always ask.
即使是流利的英语使用者，如果不是西方背景，也常常错过同事用的习语（"let's circle back"）或行话（"low-hanging fruit"）。错过一个短语 = 错过整段对话。更糟的是，问"那是什么意思？"会感到尴尬——尽管你应该总是问。
The principle 原则: Learn them passively (recognize), use them actively only when natural. Forced jargon sounds worse than plain English.
被动学（能认出），自然时再主动用。生硬地用行话比朴实英语更糟。
Meeting & Discussion Idioms (会议与讨论习语)
| Phrase | Meaning | 中文 |
|---|---|---|
| Circle back | Come back to a topic later | 回头再聊 |
| Take it offline | Discuss after the meeting, in private | 会后单独聊 |
| Park it / Parking lot | Defer a topic to revisit later | 暂时搁置 |
| Touch base | Have a brief check-in | 简短碰一下 |
| Loop in / Loop someone in | Add someone to the conversation | 把某人拉进来 |
| Out of the loop | Not informed | 没被告知 |
| In the weeds | Lost in too much detail | 陷在细节里 |
| Boil down to | Reduce to the essentials | 归结为 |
| Drill down | Investigate in detail | 深挖 |
| Walk through | Step-by-step explain | 一步步讲解 |
| Talk through | Discuss carefully | 详细讨论 |
| Run by (someone) | Get someone's opinion | 征求某人意见 |
| Sound off on | Give an opinion on | 表态 |
| Weigh in | Contribute opinion | 发表意见 |
| Chime in | Add to the discussion | 插话补充 |
| Piggyback on | Build on what someone said | 接着某人的话 |
| Bandwidth | Available time/capacity | 精力/产能 |
| At capacity | Fully busy | 满负荷 |
| Slammed / Swamped | Extremely busy | 忙死了 |
Decision & Strategy Idioms (决策与策略习语)
| Phrase | Meaning | 中文 |
|---|---|---|
| Low-hanging fruit | Easy wins | 容易摘的果子=低成本高回报 |
| Move the needle | Make significant impact | 推动指标 |
| Boil the ocean | Try to do too much at once | 烧海=想做太多 |
| Bite off more than you can chew | Take on too much | 咬下嚼不动的 |
| Kick the can down the road | Defer a decision | 把罐子踢远=拖延 |
| Cross that bridge when we come to it | Worry about it later | 到时再说 |
| Burn that bridge when we get there | Same, jokey form | 同上，玩笑版 |
| Rabbit hole | A tangent that consumes too much time | 兔子洞=越钻越深 |
| Going down a rabbit hole | Getting lost in tangents | 越钻越偏 |
| Move the goalposts | Change the criteria mid-way | 中途变标准 |
| Bake in / Baked in | Build something in from the start | 烤进去=内置 |
| Table this (US) | Defer a topic | 搁置 |
| Table this (UK) | Bring up for discussion (opposite!) | 提出讨论（反义！） |
| No-brainer | Obvious decision | 不用脑想=显然的 |
| Slam dunk | Easy win | 灌篮=稳赢 |
| Hail Mary | Last-ditch attempt | 万福玛丽亚传球=孤注一掷 |
| Long shot | Unlikely to succeed | 远射=胜算小 |
| Down the road | In the future | 将来 |
| Off the table | No longer an option | 不再是选项 |
| On the table | Available as an option | 在选项里 |
Project & Execution Idioms (项目与执行习语)
| Phrase | Meaning | 中文 |
|---|---|---|
| Get the ball rolling | Start something | 让球滚起来=开始 |
| Drop the ball | Fail to follow through | 没接住球=失误 |
| Punt | Defer to someone else / later | 弃球=往后推/转交 |
| Ship | Release / launch | 发布 |
| Ship it | Launch it now | 发出去 |
| Ship-stopper | Critical issue blocking release | 阻塞发布的问题 |
| Show-stopper | Critical problem | 致命问题 |
| Blocker | Something stopping progress | 阻塞 |
| Unblock | Remove a blocker | 解除阻塞 |
| Push back / Pushback | Resist or argue against | 反推 |
| Punching above your weight | Achieving more than expected | 越级表现 |
| Heads down | Focused, no interruptions | 低头干活 |
| In the trenches | Doing the hard daily work | 在战壕里=埋头苦干 |
| Light a fire under (someone) | Push someone to act | 点火催人 |
| Run with (something) | Take ownership and execute | 抓住跑=接手推进 |
| Hand off | Transfer ownership | 交接 |
| Pick up where (someone) left off | Continue someone's work | 接着别人的进度 |
| Wrap up | Finish | 收尾 |
| EOD / EOW | End of day / week | 下班前/本周末 |
| ASAP | As soon as possible | 越快越好 |
| TBD | To be determined | 待定 |
| TBC | To be confirmed | 待确认 |
Communication & Async Jargon (沟通与异步行话)
| Phrase | Meaning | 中文 |
|---|---|---|
| FYI | For your information | 知会一下 |
| FYA | For your awareness | 让你知道 |
| PSA | Public service announcement | 通知大家 |
| Heads up | Advance notice | 提前告知 |
| Quick sync | Brief meeting | 快速对齐 |
| Async | Not in real-time | 非同步 |
| In real time / IRL | At the same time / in person | 实时/线下 |
| Ping (someone) | Send a quick message | 发消息 |
| DM | Direct message | 私信 |
| +1 | Agree / I'd also like this | 同意/我也要 |
| -1 | Disagree | 反对 |
| LGTM | Looks good to me | 我觉得行 |
| PTAL | Please take a look | 请看一下 |
| WFM | Works for me | 我可以 |
| NGL | Not gonna lie | 老实说 |
| TIL | Today I learned | 今天学到 |
| Soft no | Polite refusal | 软拒绝 |
| Hard no | Definite refusal | 硬拒绝 |
| Headcount | Number of staff positions | 员工编制数 |
| All-hands | Company-wide meeting | 全员会 |
Strategy / Business Jargon (战略/商业行话)
| Phrase | Meaning | 中文 |
|---|---|---|
| North star | Guiding goal/metric | 北极星=指引目标 |
| Source of truth | Authoritative data/doc | 真相之源 |
| Single pane of glass | One unified view | 单面玻璃=统一视图 |
| Line of sight | Visibility into something | 视线=可见度 |
| Skin in the game | Personal stake | 有切身利益 |
| Eat your own dog food / Dogfooding | Use your own product | 吃自家狗粮 |
| Drinking the Kool-Aid | Buying into the company line uncritically | 喝迷魂汤 |
| Boil the frog | Slowly normalize a bad situation | 温水煮蛙 |
| Double down | Commit even more | 加倍下注 |
| Pivot | Change direction | 转向 |
| Iterate | Improve through cycles | 迭代 |
| MVP | Minimum viable product | 最小可行产品 |
| POC | Proof of concept | 概念验证 |
| OKR | Objectives and key results | 目标与关键结果 |
| KPI | Key performance indicator | 关键绩效指标 |
| Stakeholder | Person with interest in outcome | 利益相关方 |
| Cross-functional | Across multiple disciplines | 跨职能 |
| Top of funnel | Early stage of the user journey | 漏斗顶部 |
| Boil it down | Summarize | 浓缩 |
| In the weeds | In execution detail | 在细节里 |
| 30,000 ft view | High-level perspective | 三万英尺视角 |
People Jargon (人/职位行话)
| Phrase | Meaning | 中文 |
|---|---|---|
| IC | Individual contributor (non-manager) | 个人贡献者 |
| EM | Engineering manager | 工程经理 |
| TL | Tech lead | 技术负责人 |
| TLM | Tech lead manager | 同时管理和技术 |
| PM | Product manager | 产品经理 |
| TPM | Technical program manager | 技术项目经理 |
| EPM | Engineering program manager | 工程项目经理 |
| Skip-level | Manager's manager | 隔级上级 |
| Direct report | Person reporting to you | 直属下级 |
| Dotted line | Informal reporting relationship | 虚线汇报 |
| Solid line | Formal reporting relationship | 实线汇报 |
| Cross-pollinate | Share ideas across teams | 跨团队交流 |
| New hire | Recently joined | 新入职 |
| Rookie / Newbie | Newcomer | 新手 |
| Veteran / OG | Long-tenured person (OG = original gangster, slang) | 老员工 |
| Backfill | Replace someone who left | 填补空缺 |
| Open req | Open hiring requisition | 在招岗位 |
| Ramp up | Get up to speed | 上手 |
| Onboard | Integrate a new person | 入职辅导 |
| Offboard | Process someone leaving | 离职流程 |
| Boomerang | Person who returns to the company | 回锅肉 |
Engineering Jargon (工程行话)
| Phrase | Meaning | 中文 |
|---|---|---|
| Tech debt | Shortcuts that need cleanup | 技术债 |
| Yak shaving | Doing tangential work to enable real work | 剃牦牛=做支线为了主线 |
| Bikeshedding | Arguing over trivial details | 讨论自行车棚=纠结小事 |
| Foot-gun | Easy way to hurt yourself | 自爆枪=容易踩坑 |
| Sharp edge | Easy-to-misuse feature | 利刃=容易误用 |
| Happy path | Normal expected flow | 顺利路径 |
| Edge case | Unusual scenario | 边界情况 |
| Corner case | Rare combination of edges | 极端情况 |
| Magic number | Unexplained constant in code | 魔数 |
| Smell / Code smell | Suspicious-looking code | 代码气味 |
| Footprint | Resource usage | 占用面积 |
| Lift and shift | Move without changes | 抬起搬走 |
| Greenfield | New project, no constraints | 绿地=全新项目 |
| Brownfield | Existing system to improve | 棕地=已有系统 |
| Throw it over the wall | Hand off without context | 扔过墙=不管交付 |
| Rip and replace | Remove and rebuild | 拆掉重做 |
| Big bang | All at once release | 大爆炸=一次性发 |
| Dark launch | Deploy without exposing to users | 暗发布 |
| Canary | Gradual rollout | 金丝雀=灰度 |
| Hotfix | Urgent production fix | 热修复 |
| Quick win | Easy improvement | 容易的成果 |
| Nice to have | Optional, not required | 锦上添花 |
| Must have | Required | 必须 |
US Sports / Cultural References (美式体育/文化引用)
These confuse non-Americans constantly. They come from baseball, American football, basketball.
这些经常让非美国人困惑。来自棒球、美式足球、篮球。
| Phrase | Meaning | 中文 |
|---|---|---|
| Slam dunk | Easy win (basketball) | 灌篮=稳赢 |
| Hail Mary | Desperate last attempt (football) | 万福玛丽亚传球 |
| Touch base | Brief check-in (baseball) | 摸垒=简短碰头 |
| Hit it out of the park | Exceed expectations (baseball) | 全垒打=超预期 |
| Strike out | Fail (baseball) | 三振=失败 |
| Step up to the plate | Take responsibility (baseball) | 站到本垒板=担责 |
| Cover all the bases | Be thorough (baseball) | 顾全所有垒 |
| In the same ballpark | Roughly the same | 同一个球场=差不多 |
| Ballpark estimate | Rough estimate | 大致估计 |
| Drop the ball | Fail to follow through | 没接住球 |
| Pass the baton | Hand off (relay race) | 接力=交棒 |
| Punt | Give up on this attempt (football) | 弃球 |
| Game plan | Strategy | 比赛计划 |
| Monday morning quarterback | Hindsight critic | 周一早上的四分卫=事后诸葛 |
Idioms to Use Carefully (慎用的习语)
Some idioms are dated, regional, or risky in mixed-culture settings.
有些习语过时、地区性、或在多元文化中有风险。
- "Open the kimono" — Was used to mean "share openly." Now considered offensive. Don't use. 别用。
- "Long pole in the tent" — Means "biggest constraint." Mixed reception. Avoid. 慎用。
- "Drinking from a firehose" — Means "overwhelmed with info." OK but tired. 还行但老套。
- "Boil the ocean" — Common, fine to use. 常用。
- "Move fast and break things" — Famously Facebook. Loaded. 有意识形态包袱。
- "Killing it / Crushing it" — Casual praise. Fine in tech, not in formal email. 非正式表扬。
Phrases to Avoid Using (尽量不用的)
- Anything you'd be embarrassed to explain. If you're not 100% sure of meaning, don't use it.
- Heavy regional slang ("y'all", "innit", "mate") — fine if it's natural to you, weird if forced.
- Outdated jargon ("synergy" used unironically, "paradigm shift") — sounds like 2005 corporate.
- Jargon-stacking — "Let's circle back on the synergy of our north star OKRs" — meaningless soup.
Cultural Notes (文化提示)
Listening > using (听 > 用)
Your goal is to understand when others use these. Using them yourself is optional. Forced idioms sound worse than plain English.
你的目标是听懂别人用。自己用是可选的。生硬地用比朴实英语更糟。
Ask without shame (没必要羞愧)
When someone uses a phrase you don't know, ask. Most native speakers haven't thought about what they're saying and are happy to explain.
听到不懂的，问。大多数母语者没想过自己说的什么，乐意解释。
- "Quick question — what does [phrase] mean?" — 快速问一下——[短语] 是什么意思？
- "New idiom for me — translate?" — 新习语——翻译一下？
Different industries, different jargon (不同行业不同行话)
Finance, sales, ops, marketing all have their own. The list above leans tech.
金融、销售、运营、营销各有各的。上面列表偏科技。
Don't translate idioms literally (不要直译习语)
"狼狈为奸" translated to English is gibberish. Conversely, "let's table this" translated to "把这放桌上" makes no sense in Chinese. Translate meaning, not words.
直译会变成胡话。译意思，不译字面。
Build a personal glossary (建个人词汇表)
Keep a doc where you write down idioms you hear, with their meaning. After 3 months at a new company, you'll have your own dictionary.
记一份听到的习语文档，附含义。新公司 3 个月后你就有了自己的字典。
Tips (小贴士)
- Recognize > use — Comprehension matters more than active vocabulary. 听懂比用重要。
- Ask immediately, not later — If you let it slide, it'll come up again confused. 立刻问，不要拖。
- Avoid stacking jargon — One idiom per sentence max. 一句话最多一个习语。
- Use plain English when in doubt — It always works. 不确定就用朴实英语。
- Build a glossary — Track new ones for the first few months at any company. 记词汇表。