Communication

20 words

1. 1

   hear it on the grapevineidiom/hɪə(r) ɪt ɒn ðə ˈɡreɪpvaɪn/

   to hear news or information through informal gossip or rumours

   “I heard it on the grapevine that they might close the office.”

2. 2

   speak volumesidiom/spiːk ˈvɒljuːmz/

   to express a lot of information or meaning without words; to be very expressive

   “Her silence spoke volumes about how upset she was.”

3. 3

   cut to the chaseidiom/kʌt tə ðə ʧeɪs/

   to stop wasting time and get to the important part

   “We don't have much time, so let's cut to the chase.”

4. 4

   talk at cross purposesidiom/tɔːk æt krɒs ˈpɜːpəsɪz/

   to speak about different things and so fail to understand each other

   “We kept talking at cross purposes; I thought we were discussing budgets, he was talking about staffing.”

5. 5

   get a word in (edgeways)idiom/ɡet ə wɜːd ɪn ˈedʒweɪz/

   to manage to say something when someone else is talking a lot or interrupting

   “When Mark talks non-stop, it's hard to get a word in edgeways.”

6. 6

   get through to someonephrasal verb/ɡet θruː tuː ˈsʌmwʌn/

   to succeed in making someone understand or accept what you say

   “I tried to explain the safety rules, but I couldn't get through to them.”

7. 7

   word of mouthidiom/wɜːd əv maʊθ/

   information passed from person to person by conversation rather than in writing or advertising

   “Most of their customers came by word of mouth.”

8. 8

   hear someone outidiom/hɪə ˈsʌmwʌn aʊt/

   to listen to someone until they have finished saying what they want to say

   “Before you judge, hear him out — he has a reasonable explanation.”

9. 9

   keep someone in the darkidiom/kiːp ˈsʌmwʌn ɪn ðə ˈdɑːk/

   to not tell someone about something important; to keep someone uninformed

   “They kept me in the dark about the promotion until the announcement.”

10. 10

    clear the airidiom/klɪə(r) ði ˈeə(r)/

    to remove tension or misunderstanding by talking honestly about a problem

    “We had a frank conversation to clear the air after the argument.”

11. 11

    get one's wires crossedidiom/ɡet wʌnz waɪəz krɒst/

    to have a misunderstanding with someone because something was said or understood wrongly

    “I think we got our wires crossed — I thought you said Friday, not Thursday.”

12. 12

    get the ball rollingidiom/ɡet ðə bɔːl ˈrəʊlɪŋ/

    to start something, especially a process or activity

    “Let's get the ball rolling on the research by assigning tasks now.”

13. 13

    in a nutshellidiom/ɪn ə ˈnʌtʃəl/

    to say something briefly; to summarize the main point

    “To put it in a nutshell, we need more time and more money.”

14. 14

    on the same pageidiom/ɒn ðə seɪm peɪdʒ/

    to have the same understanding or agreement about something

    “Before we start the project, let’s make sure we are all on the same page.”

15. 15

    put words in someone's mouthidiom

    to say that someone has said something they did not say

    “Don't put words in my mouth — I never agreed to that plan.”

16. 16

    give someone the cold shoulderidiom

    to deliberately ignore someone or treat them in an unfriendly way

    “After their argument, he gave her the cold shoulder at the party.”

17. 17

    lost for wordsidiom/lɒst fə ˈwɜːdz/

    unable to speak because of surprise, shock, or strong emotion

    “When she heard the news, she was completely lost for words.”

18. 18

    on the same wavelengthidiom/ɒn ðə seɪm ˈweɪvleŋθ/

    to have similar thoughts and feelings; to understand each other well

    “We work well together because we're on the same wavelength.”

19. 19

    come cleanidiom/kʌm kliːn/

    to admit something that you have been keeping secret or have been avoiding admitting

    “She finally came clean about why she missed the meeting.”

20. 20

    talk shopidiom/tɔːk ʃɒp/

    to discuss work-related matters, especially when it is not appropriate (e.g. in social situations)

    “They went to a party but ended up talking shop the whole night.”