Idioms related to work and jobs

1. Idioms related to work and
jobs
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2. Beaver away at something
to ​work hard for a ​long ​time:
She has been beavering
away at that ​essay for ​hours.

3. 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.

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

5. 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.

6. 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 ground
No volunteers came forward to enable the
youth club to get off the ground.

7. Be someone’s right-hand man
Also 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?

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. To be an inside job
An 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.