Idioms people really use

Understand and use the idioms you will hear at work and with friends. Lesson 33 of 58: Fluency, CEFR B2.

Idioms at work

Idioms are fixed phrases whose meaning is not the sum of their words. These are the ones you will really hear in offices and meetings:
on the same page (agreeing on the facts), the ball is in your court (it is your turn to act), a ballpark figure (a rough estimate), touch base (make brief contact), think outside the box (think creatively), cut corners (do something badly to save time), get the ball rolling (start), back to square one (start again), up in the air (not decided), a no-brainer (an obvious choice).
Let’s make sure we’re all on the same page.
Can you give me a ballpark figure?
The project is still up in the air.

break the ice (start a conversation in a tense situation), hit the nail on the head (exactly right), a piece of cake (very easy), under the weather (slightly ill), once in a blue moon (very rarely), cost an arm and a leg (very expensive), call it a day (stop working), sleep on it (decide tomorrow), it’s not rocket science (it is not difficult), keep me posted (tell me what happens).
I’m feeling a bit under the weather.
Let’s call it a day.
Let me sleep on it.
Tip: Understand many idioms, use a few. An idiom used slightly wrong sounds odder than plain English. And idioms can confuse other non-native speakers, so in international meetings, use them carefully.

Describe a week at work or school using five idioms naturally: how a project started, an easy task, a problem that sent you back to square one, a decision still up in the air, and how you ended the week.
I used five idioms correctly
Each idiom fitted the situation
I did not force too many into one sentence

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