Advance Phrases

Phrase	Meaning	Sample Sentence
Push the envelope	To go beyond the usual limits	She always pushes the envelope in design.
Call the shots	To be in charge	He’s the one who calls the shots around here.
In over your head	Too involved in something difficult	I think I’m in over my head with this job.
On the fence	Unable to decide	I’m still on the fence about the offer.
Drop a bombshell	To reveal shocking news	She dropped a bombshell at the meeting.
Cut to the chase	Skip the details and go to the point	Let’s cut to the chase—what do you want?
Take a rain check	Postpone something	Can I take a rain check on dinner?
The ball is in your court	It’s your responsibility now	I’ve done my part; the ball is in your court.
Throw someone under the bus	To betray someone for personal gain	He threw me under the bus in front of the boss.
Keep someone at arm's length	To avoid getting too close	He always keeps people at arm’s length.
Take a toll on	To have a negative effect	Stress has taken a toll on her health.
Bend over backwards	To try very hard	They bent over backwards to please the client.
Turn the tables	To reverse the situation	She turned the tables with a clever move.
Sit on the sidelines	To avoid getting involved	He just sat on the sidelines during the debate.
Raise the bar	To increase standards	She always raises the bar for everyone.
Throw in your two cents	To offer an opinion	He always throws in his two cents.
Put your foot down	To insist firmly	I had to put my foot down and say no.
Off the record	Not to be made public	Off the record, he’s resigning.
Jump through hoops	To go through many difficulties	We had to jump through hoops to get approval.
Come full circle	To return to the beginning	Her career came full circle after years away.
Call it quits	To stop or end something	I think we should call it quits and rest.
Give someone the cold shoulder	To ignore someone	Don’t give her the cold shoulder—talk to her.
Beat around the bush	To avoid the main point	Stop beating around the bush and tell me.
Burst someone’s bubble	To disappoint someone	She burst his bubble with the truth.
Walk on eggshells	To be very careful	I’m tired of walking on eggshells at home.
Clam up	To suddenly stop talking	He clams up when asked about his past.
Go down in flames	To fail completely	His plan went down in flames.
Keep your head above water	To survive or manage	They barely kept their heads above water.
Skate on thin ice	To take risks	He’s always on thin ice at work.
Take it with a grain of salt	To doubt something	I took that story with a grain of salt.
Know the ropes	To understand how things work	She really knows the ropes now.
Go back to the drawing board	Start over again	We went back to the drawing board after testing.
Think outside the box	Be creative	She always thinks outside the box.
At the drop of a hat	Immediately	She’s ready to travel at the drop of a hat.
Play devil’s advocate	To argue a different point for discussion	He loves playing devil’s advocate.
Give someone the benefit of the doubt	To trust without proof	She always gives people the benefit of the doubt.
Bite off more than you can chew	To take on too much	I may have bitten off more than I can chew.
Add insult to injury	To make a bad situation worse	Losing the money added insult to injury.
Break even	To have no profit or loss	The event broke even in the end.
By the book	Following the rules	The report was done by the book.
Go down to the wire	To be decided at the last minute	It’ll go down to the wire again.
Under your belt	Experience gained	I need more experience under my belt.
In the driver’s seat	In control	You’ll be in the driver’s seat soon.
Out of the woods	Past the worst part	We’re finally out of the woods.
Throw caution to the wind	To take a risk	She threw caution to the wind and spoke up.
Get the short end of the stick	To be treated unfairly	I always get the short end of the stick.
Light at the end of the tunnel	A sign of hope	There’s light at the end of the tunnel now.
Go off on a tangent	To go off-topic	Try not to go off on tangents in meetings.
Put your money where your mouth is	Show action, not just talk	He finally put his money where his mouth is.
Know something inside out	To know something very well	I know this topic inside out.