“To run out of steam” and other idioms

When it comes to idioms, most nonnative speakers strive to remember as many of them as they can because they think knowing how to use such phrases would make a speaker sound more fluent. This might be true to a certain extent, although a person doesn’t need to use a ton of them to be a great communicator in English. But using idioms in certain situations can make a particular message sound and feel more snatched (caution: slang; look it up 😉) because it shows that their users are familiar and comfortable not only with the language, but also with the culture.

Memorizing idioms out of context can be a daunting task, so when you learn them, try to imagine a real situation from your daily life where a particular idiom might fit.

Five idioms you can use with your colleagues at the office

Below are five idioms you can use at work (and everywhere else).

1. To bang your head against a brick wall

Have you ever felt that you have done or tried something so many times, but at the end, you always end up with the same result as before? Or maybe you have tried to change someone’s mind about something that’s important to you, but the other person didn’t even seem to see your point of view? If you answered yes, then you probably felt that you were banging your head against a brick wall.

To make this phrase relevant in the work environment, think about a project that you’d thought was going to be easy, but turned out to be way more painful than you had anticipated. At one point it seemed like it wasn’t even moving forward at all. Or maybe you had a coworker who was difficult to work with and you felt that you couldn’t communicate the way you wanted? Then you can say “I feel like I am banging my head against a brick wall.”

Examples:

• I keep asking my coworker not to interrupt me when I am presenting, but it’s like banging my head against a brick wall.

• I’ve realized that my boss is never going to agree with me when it comes to this project, so it’s no use banging my head against a brick wall trying to convince her.

2. To swim upstream

Have you ever wanted to complete something, but instead of choosing the easy, more intuitive way, you opted for a harder, less conventional path? Others might have advised you not to do it this way, but you didn’t care. You wanted to do it your way. In this situation you were swimming upstream. This phrase may be easier for you to remember if you imagine literally swimming against the stream of the water. If you have ever swum in a river, you know that swimming in the direction of the water flow is much easier than swimming against the current. If you swim upstream, you struggle and work way harder while still not moving forward as fast as you would want.

To use it at work, imagine that all of your coworkers are on the same page about how a project should be done, but you disagree because you strongly feel that there is a better way. In this situation you can say that you are swimming upstream.

Examples:

• I used to always swim upstream, but now I take other people’s advice more often.

• I told you not to do it alone and wait for the rest of the team to help you, but you decided to swim upstream and do it yourself.

3. To run out of steam

Have you ever started a new project feeling super excited about it, but shortly after you started to lose interest and had to force yourself to keep going? If so, you probably did too much in the beginning and you ran out of steam shortly after.

For example, imagine that you had started your new work project so enthusiastically that you worked on it day and night for the first week. But as the second week approached, you felt exhausted. In this case, you can say that you ran out of steam.

Examples:

• I know you love your new job, but I strongly advise you not to spend 12 hours at the office. You are going to run out of steam pretty soon.

• My team and I ran out of steam once we realized that our manager was not going to support our idea.

4. To step up to the plate

Imagine your team is facing a challenging project and, although everyone feels excited, no one knows what to do and where to start from. But you have such a clear vision of how things should be done that you decide to take over the team and lead the project. In such a situation, you can say that you have stepped up to the plate and you have taken action.

Stepping up to the plate is expected of people who want to be promoted at work and desire to be seen as competent leaders.

Examples:

• I took over the team when it was obvious that no one else was going to step up to the plate.

• John, you definitely have the technical skills to build the product, so I need you to step up to the plate and lead the project.

5. To put your best foot forward

Imagine going to a job interview for the position that you have always wanted. You want to present yourself in the best way possible. That is, you want to be professionally dressed, polite to everyone, and respond to questions about you in the best way you can. You also want to ask smart questions about the company and its products, and you definitely need to be on time. In other words, you want to put your best foot forward.

Examples:

• My boss asked me to present our new project during the meeting with the stakeholders. I have to put my best foot forward

• Before I started my new job, my adviser told me that in order to put my best foot forward, I had to be patient and well-mannered.

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Note that you can also use more than one of these phrases at the same time. Try to come up with a few sentences of your own and put these phrases to work. Share at least one of your examples in the comment section. Remember, the more you use new idioms, the more you will remember them when you need to.

You can learn more idioms from my other posts:

• “You nailed it” and other idioms
• “When the rubber meets the road” and other idioms

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