Uploaded October 2018 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Ready to sound more professional? What's the difference between "a zero-sum game" and "a win-win situation"? What about "a lucky break" and "a tough break" or "an uphill battle" and "a piece of cake"? Start speaking like a manager by understanding and using these eight English expressions, commonly used in the English workplace and in business communication.
NEXT, watch more videos in my SPEAK LIKE A MANAGER series:
youtube.com/watch?v=TUSxq7KoTsM&list=PLxSz4mPLHWDamTa4xW7tkb-roADpiT5Jf
Or for more EngVid Business English videos, go here:
youtube.com/watch?v=vDMJVrVY3ME&list=PLs_glF4TIn5a_gCoap4RgS1pzj9DNyGtO
TRANSCRIPT
Hi. I'm Rebecca from www.engvid.com, back with another "Speak like a Manager" lesson. Okay? So, in this particular lesson, we're going to focus on eight expressions that are very commonly used in the workplace, in business, and so on. All right? And what's easy about them is that they are grouped... I have grouped them for you in pairs, so that one of them has a particular meaning and the other one kind of has the opposite meaning, and I hope that will make it a little bit easier for you to understand them and also to start using them. All right? So, let's get started. All right.
So, here's the first pair: "a tough break" or "a lucky break". All right? So, what do these two expressions mean? So, first of all: "a tough break"... When we say "break", we don't actually mean break. All right? It's like a chance; an opportunity, or a situation. So, when we say: "tough"... "Tough" means difficult. So this means something difficult or something bad that happened; and this, "lucky" means something good that happened. So: "a tough break" is something bad that happened, and "a lucky break" is something good that happened.
For example, let's say that someone you know lost their job. Okay? They didn't expect it, and it happened suddenly, and that was a tough break. Okay? That was something bad that happened; it seemed like. But then the person managed to get a better job in the first week, so that was a lucky break; something good that happened. All right? So, you see now that these are quite easy to use, these expressions, and you will hear them very often in the context of employment, in the context of clients, in the context of customers, and so on. Okay? All right. And in the context of life. Right? Okay.
So, let's go to the next pair: "a win-win situation"... Say it after me: "a win-win situation" or "a zero-sum game". Say it after me: "a zero-sum game". All right. So, here, also we have two opposite kind of situations. "A win-win situation" is where both sides come out ahead; both sides benefit; both sides can win. All right? Yes, this is possible. All right. And "a zero-sum game" is where only one side can win; and if one side wins, the other side is going to lose. All right?
So, for example, let's suppose there is a negotiation going on in a... In a company, in a large corporation between the management and labour. Okay? Labour is the... The people who work; the workforce. Okay? And they're negotiating and they're negotiating; and finally, they come to a compromise, they come to an agreement that both sides are happy. It's not easy; it doesn't happen easily, but it can happen. And if that happens and when that happens, you can describe that situation as a win-win situation, where both sides were happy. All right? In any kind of... Usually we use this when there is some kind of negotiation going on. All right?
Next: "a zero-sum game", right? So, here we said only one side can win. So, for example, if three law firms are trying to get the contract to work with a large corporation but only one is going to be awarded the contract or given the contract, then that's a zero-sum game. So, when one wins, the other is going to lose or the others are going to lose. All right. So, that's "a zero-sum game" or "a win-win situation".
Let's just practice pronouncing this first pair, repeat it after me: "a tough break". I know it says "t-o-u-g-h", but it's not pronounced like that. English is not always phonetic, all right? It doesn't sound the way it looks, so repeat it after me: "a tough break". It's like: "t-u-f-f". All right? It sounds like that. Or: "a lucky break". Say it after me: "a lucky break". Good. All right.
Now let's go to these two: "a long shot" or "a safe bet". So, "a long shot" describes the situation in which there is very little chance of success, and "a safe bet" is a situation in which there is a very high chance of success. This one, low chance of success; and this one, a high chance of success. All right? […]
Ready to sound more professional? What's the difference between "a zero-sum game" and "a win-win situation"? What about "a lucky break" and "a tough break" or "an uphill battle" and "a piece of cake"? Start speaking like a manager by understanding and using these eight English expressions, commonly used in the English workplace and in business communication.
NEXT, watch more videos in my SPEAK LIKE A MANAGER series:
youtube.com/watch?v=TUSxq7KoTsM&list=PLxSz4mPLHWDamTa4xW7tkb-roADpiT5Jf
Or for more EngVid Business English videos, go here:
youtube.com/watch?v=vDMJVrVY3ME&list=PLs_glF4TIn5a_gCoap4RgS1pzj9DNyGtO
TRANSCRIPT
Hi. I'm Rebecca from www.engvid.com, back with another "Speak like a Manager" lesson. Okay? So, in this particular lesson, we're going to focus on eight expressions that are very commonly used in the workplace, in business, and so on. All right? And what's easy about them is that they are grouped... I have grouped them for you in pairs, so that one of them has a particular meaning and the other one kind of has the opposite meaning, and I hope that will make it a little bit easier for you to understand them and also to start using them. All right? So, let's get started. All right.
So, here's the first pair: "a tough break" or "a lucky break". All right? So, what do these two expressions mean? So, first of all: "a tough break"... When we say "break", we don't actually mean break. All right? It's like a chance; an opportunity, or a situation. So, when we say: "tough"... "Tough" means difficult. So this means something difficult or something bad that happened; and this, "lucky" means something good that happened. So: "a tough break" is something bad that happened, and "a lucky break" is something good that happened.
For example, let's say that someone you know lost their job. Okay? They didn't expect it, and it happened suddenly, and that was a tough break. Okay? That was something bad that happened; it seemed like. But then the person managed to get a better job in the first week, so that was a lucky break; something good that happened. All right? So, you see now that these are quite easy to use, these expressions, and you will hear them very often in the context of employment, in the context of clients, in the context of customers, and so on. Okay? All right. And in the context of life. Right? Okay.
So, let's go to the next pair: "a win-win situation"... Say it after me: "a win-win situation" or "a zero-sum game". Say it after me: "a zero-sum game". All right. So, here, also we have two opposite kind of situations. "A win-win situation" is where both sides come out ahead; both sides benefit; both sides can win. All right? Yes, this is possible. All right. And "a zero-sum game" is where only one side can win; and if one side wins, the other side is going to lose. All right?
So, for example, let's suppose there is a negotiation going on in a... In a company, in a large corporation between the management and labour. Okay? Labour is the... The people who work; the workforce. Okay? And they're negotiating and they're negotiating; and finally, they come to a compromise, they come to an agreement that both sides are happy. It's not easy; it doesn't happen easily, but it can happen. And if that happens and when that happens, you can describe that situation as a win-win situation, where both sides were happy. All right? In any kind of... Usually we use this when there is some kind of negotiation going on. All right?
Next: "a zero-sum game", right? So, here we said only one side can win. So, for example, if three law firms are trying to get the contract to work with a large corporation but only one is going to be awarded the contract or given the contract, then that's a zero-sum game. So, when one wins, the other is going to lose or the others are going to lose. All right. So, that's "a zero-sum game" or "a win-win situation".
Let's just practice pronouncing this first pair, repeat it after me: "a tough break". I know it says "t-o-u-g-h", but it's not pronounced like that. English is not always phonetic, all right? It doesn't sound the way it looks, so repeat it after me: "a tough break". It's like: "t-u-f-f". All right? It sounds like that. Or: "a lucky break". Say it after me: "a lucky break". Good. All right.
Now let's go to these two: "a long shot" or "a safe bet". So, "a long shot" describes the situation in which there is very little chance of success, and "a safe bet" is a situation in which there is a very high chance of success. This one, low chance of success; and this one, a high chance of success. All right? […]
