6 Minute Vocabulary - Business jargon

This is the BBC . This podcast is supported by advertising outside the . This is a download from BBC Learning English to find out more . Visit our website . Six minutes from BBC Learning English dot com . Hello and welcome to Six Minute Vocabulary . I'm Neal . And I'm Catherine . And our topic today is business jargon , that's words and phrases you hear mostly in the world of business . So , Neal , are you ready for some blue sky thinking ? Blue sky thinking , huh ? That's an expression often heard in the workplace . It means being creative coming up with new original ideas . Exactly . And in this program , we've got lots more business phrases for you . We'll explain what they mean and when to use them . But first , listen to Sophie talking to her marketing team . And here's a question to think about while you listen . What does Sophie ask Joe to do ? Good . It seems we're all reading from the same page we need to reach the upscale customers . So can we think out of the box and come up with something quite different ? We have to push the envelope if we want to succeed in the market . Now , if we take the helicopter view , we can see that we've affected lower costs , we've targeted low hanging fruit and got rid of several distributors going forward . Now , Joe , can action advertising ? Is everyone clear now ? Lots of business jargon that we usually don't use so many at one time , do we know it can sound a bit much if use all of them , though ? These are things that you probably will hear in a business context . Most definitely . So back to our question . We asked you , what does Sophi ask Joe to do ? And the answer is she asks him to action advertising . That's right . She wants him to deal with advertising . So if you use the noun action as a verb . More on that later . But first , let's look at some jargon . She used to talk about having new ideas . Here's a clip . So can we think out of the box and come up with something quite different ? We have to push the envelope if we want to succeed in the market . So Sophie wants her team to come up with a new and exciting idea , and she uses the expression , think out of the box , which means be creative , don't feel limited to the same old ideas . And she tells them to push the envelope , which means go further than before and do things that might be new or risky . Yeah , that's similar to the expression we had earlier . Blue sky thinking , which means being creative coming up with new and original ideas , even if they're not very practical or realistic . So , Neal , are you a blue sky thinker ? Oh , yes , of course . I'm incredibly creative . You know , I do , yes . Sophie , Sophie also said everyone was reading from the same page . Now , this expression means they all had similar ideas and agreed with each other . Here's another clip . Now , if we take the helicopter view , we can see that we've affected lower costs , we've targeted low hanging fruit and got rid of several distributors . Some interesting phrases there , and you can guess their meaning if you actually picture what the words mean , for example , take the helicopter view . Exactly . Now picture yourself up in the sky in a helicopter and you're looking down at the ground and you can see a lot more from up there . you can see when you're down on the ground . So this expression means looking at the whole situation and not just one or two details . Sophie also said that they lowered costs by targeting low hanging fruit . Low hanging fruit means the easiest or most obvious things in reality , on a fruit tree , the fruit that hangs low down is easier to pick . So there's a link between this idea and the idiomatic meaning of the phrase in a business situation . Good . Now , Sophie used to nouns as verbs effect and action . She said we've affected lower costs and to effect means to achieve something . She also asked Joe to action advertising this means she wants him to deal with the advertising and Noun's used as verbs like this sound very strong . They give the speakers ideas greater force . So we use the word upscale to describe customers . Upscale , describes people with money or things that are high quality . I often think we could do with some upscale coffee in our office . That's a good idea . Six minutes from the BBC and it's time for a quiz . Number one , if I want you to be creative and original , would I tell you to push the envelope or B , target low hanging fruit ? And the answer is A , push the envelope . Well done . If you got that right , number two , if I want you to look at the wider picture and not concentrate on detail , would I tell you to a think out of the box or B , take the helicopter view and its B , take the helicopter view . Good . And finally , if I want you to do something , would I ask you to , A , action it or B , effect it ? And the answer is a action . Well done if you got those right . And before we go , here's a top tip for learning vocabulary . When you learn new words , make a picture in your head of the meaning . And when you hear or see the word again , you can think of a picture . There's more about this at BBC Learning English dot com . Join us again for more six minute vocabulary by . Six minutes , . From the BBC .