Winning English - Idioms, Slang, and Cultural References
Break the ice • Rub salt in the wound • The tip of the iceberg • Near and dear to my heart • Above board • Market intelligence • Now we're talking
Suppose you attend a business networking event. You get a drink and stand at one of the tables. Another attendee walks up to the table.
To break the ice, you ask, “So, what industry are you in? I’m in consumer products.”
“Oh, really?” the other attendee says. “Me, too. But maybe not for much longer.”
“Why is that?” you ask.
“Well, my main supplier - ABC Products - has all sorts of problems! From innovation to sales to production.”
“Wow,” you say. “Well, I don’t mean to rub salt in the wound, but I’ve also heard that ABC needs to fix a lot of problems.”
“Oh, trust me,” the other attendee says. “That’s just the tip of the iceberg!”
“To break the ice” means to start a conversation in a friendly way. When meeting strangers, it’s usually awkward, and we look for ways create a warm feeling - “to break the ice” - with the person. This phrase can also be a noun with “icebreaker”, which I’ve covered in a previous post.
“To rub salt in the wound” means that you are making a person feel worse than they already do. “To rub in” means to press something into a surface - for example, to push salt into a cut in someone’s skin. That stings and hurts! Sometimes we do something similar to people’s emotions, too. Note that in the example above, the speaker is using the phrase to apologize before delivering bad news. It’s often used this way.
“The tip of the iceberg” is a phrase used to describe situations when there are many problems that you can’t see. When an iceberg floats in the water, you can only see a small part of it. Most of the iceberg is below the surface of the water. But that part below the water is what could severely damage a passing ship! Some situations in life are like that. You see problems, but there are even more that are hidden that could cause a lot of trouble. This is a very commonly used phrase, from medical news to software hacks to environmental problems.
However, note that sometimes people use “the tip of the iceberg” in a positive way, as in there are many better things to come. This is less common, but here are two examples.
Back at the networking event, the other attendee continues the conversation.
“I’d love to see that company succeed. It’s near and dear to my heart. I’ve known those people for years.”
You say, “Look, I’ve not been entirely above board with you. I’m actually the new ceo of ABC Products. This is great market intelligence to have. In fact, I’d like to pick your brain some more. Are you available next week?”
When someone or something is “near and dear to your heart”, you care deeply about it. Family, friends, and other things can be “near and dear”.
To be “above board” means to be honest or to tell the whole truth. This phrase appears to be hundreds of years old. It comes from card games. A card table can be thought of as a wooden board. If you are “above board”, you have all your cards on the table. You are not cheating by hiding cards below the table.
“Intelligence” can be a personal ability. A person who is very smart is intelligent. But “intelligence” can also be secret knowledge that people gather in order to win at something. Armies like to gather intelligence about their enemies. And companies like to gather intelligence about their competitors. When people gather information about the business world, it’s called “market intelligence”.
“To pick someone’s brain” means to want to hear a person’s ideas about a topic. I’ve covered that in a previous post.
One last phrase today. Talking about icebergs made me remember that we had an ice and snow storm in my neighborhood recently. The woods behind my house are now beautiful. When I saw them, I thought, “Now we’re talking.”
“Now we’re talking” is a phrase we use to express satisfaction. We can be satisfied with a situation or with something we are seeing or hearing. I lived for six years on the Equator and enjoyed the warm weather. I recently moved back north, and I was hoping for a fun, snowy winter. Thankfully, I got one.
Thanks for reading Winning English! Remember to listen to the podcast, as well, to reinforce your learning. Also remember to like the posts, leave comments, and if you like what you read or hear, please tell a friend. Talk soon!
That snow photo looks cccold.