Idioms related to work and jobs

C1

Beaver away at something

to work hard for a long  time: She has been beavering away at that essay for hours.

Keep one’s mind on the job

To give all one’s attention to the job at hand.If she wants to be promoted, she’ll need to keep her mind on the job.

To mean business

To be very, very serious.Stop laughing! I mean business!

Make ends meet

To earn and spend equal amounts of money. (Usually in reference to a meager living with little if any money after basic expenses.) I have to work at two jobs to make ends meet. Through better budgeting, I am learning to make both ends meet.

Get something off the ground

If you get a project off the ground, you start it and make it successful. You can also say that a project gets off the groundNo volunteers came forward to enable the youth club to get off the ground.

Be someone’s right-hand manAlso right-hand woman. Someone who helps you with your work and who you depend upon. How will the Director cope without his right-hand man, who resigned yesterday due to ill health?

Call the shots

To make the decisions; to decide what is to be done. Sally always wants to call the shots, and Mary doesn't like to be bossed around.

Have time on one’s hand

To have extra time; to have time to spare. Your problem is that you have

too much time on your hands. I don't have time on my hands. I

am busy all the time.

Keep one’s nose to the grindstone

To work continuously. After a year of keeping your nose to the

grindstone, you finally get away for that vacation you've dreamed about.

Usage notes: sometimes used in the shortened form nose to the grindstone: During the exam period, it was all nose

to the grindstone.

To be an inside jobAn inside job is a crime, usually larceny, robbery or embezzlement, committed by a person with a position of trust who is authorized to access a location or procedure with little or no supervision, e.g., a key employee or manager. The perpetrator can also be a former employee who still has specialized knowledge necessary to facilitate the crime.