English Idoms: UNIT 7 - THE START-UP

Person A: Did you know that Krishna left for a job with that new Internet-based start- up?

Person B: Yes, I heard that. I guess he decided to just go for the gold. They gave him stock options.

Person A: I heard his wife also left her job to go to the same company. I guess they decided it was time to go for it. They’ve both become dot.commers.

Person B: I think they took the risk because last year, he was offered a job and stock in another start-up company, but he said no, and now the company has gone public. He felt he really missed the boat. He would have been a millionaire if he had taken that job.

Person A: Well, it’s a trade-off. I prefer a little more security. I’m not ready to risk it all and go for broke. Some of those Internet-based companies make me  nervous. A lot of them won’t be around long. You know, some of them have a really high burn rate. They often go through millions of dollars a month in the start-up phase. I prefer working for a bricks-and-mortar business. I think it’s important to have a physical presence in the marketplace.

Person B: You may be right, but Krishna is a nice guy. I hope he lands on his feet and does really well.

Person A: Well, nobody twisted his arm. He took the chance, and he know what he’s doing. He could always come back here. He was careful not to burn his bridges. He gave two weeks notice, and everyone appreciated that.

Person B: His wife is a talented researcher. If this venture falls through, she should have a lot of other job opportunities. It’s not like they come up only once in a blue moon. There are lots of them around today for people with the right skills.

1. Go for the gold: try for a difficult goal.

 Let’s go for the gold. I want to set high goals this year.

 She went for the gold when she put down her quarter goals.

2. Go for it: make an extra effort to meet a goal

 If we’re going to make this quarter’s quota, we’ll have to really go for it.

 I told him he would succeed if her really went for it.

3. Dot.com/ dot.commer: an Internet-based business/ an employee of an Internet- based business.

 I don’t think I’m ready to go to a dot.com and work 12 hours a day.

 He left that big corporation and became a dot.commer because he hopes to make a million dollars when the business goes public.

4. Miss the boat: miss the opportunity

 He could have bought that stock last week at half the current price. He really missed the boat.

 She missed the boat when he said no to that deal. It turned out to be worth  millions.

5. A trade-off: an exchange; the act of giving up one thing to get another

 If you cut back your hours to have more free time, you’ll make less money. It’s a trade-off.

 She gave up her dream car to buy a house. It was a trade-off.

6. Burn rate: the rate at which a new company spends money

 The 10 million dollars of venture capital should last about five months at this burn rate.

 The burn rate is really high with new Internet companies because marketing costs are very high.

7. Bricks and mortar: a business with a physical building where goods are bought and sold, as opposed to an Internet-based business, which sells products over the World Wide Web.

 We’re a bricks-and-mortar business. We still have a retail building where we sell our products.

 Bricks-and-mortar businesses in our town are facing competition from Internet- based companies.

8. Land on one’s feet: recover from a problem or difficult challenge

 His company outsourced his job, but he landed on his feet because he found a  new position in another department.

 She managed to land on her feet when she made a career change; in fact, her salary is still rising.

9. Twist someone’s arm: convince or persuade someone to do something

 I didn’t want to go to the party, but she twisted my arm, so I went.

 Lisa didn’t want to go to the dance alone, so she called a friend and twisted his arm. He finally agreed to go along.

10. Burn one’s bridges: do something that will hurt or destroy a relationship

 I wasn’t negative about why I left the job. I didn’t want to burn my bridges. I might want to use my old boss as a reference.

 He burned his bridges when he published that book about the politics at his old company.

11. Fall through: fail or not happen

 Our plans for the evening fell through, and we ended up staying home.

 I’m counting on getting that contract; I hope it doesn’t fall through.

12. Once in a blue moon: (Something that happens) rarely or very infrequently

 We weren’t prepared for such a big snowstorm because it only happens once in a blue moon around here.

 He comes to visit once in a blue moon. I haven’t seen him for years.

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