Vocabulary

Idioms

Unit 6 : A Company is a Ship

Literal meanings

 Course=direction
 Hands=sailors
 Deck=floor of a boat
 To bail out=to empty water from a boat
 Uncharted=not yet on a map
 To rock=to move from side to side and up and down
 To weather a storm=to decide not to keep sailing ahead, but just do your best to survive until
the storm goes down

On course

 On course for something=very likely to achieve something or to have a particular result

 To know the ropes
 Wrecked=extremely tired/very drunk
 To wait for the storm to pass
 To run a tight ship=to control something such as an organization or institution in a very strict
and effective way
 It’s all hands on deck

Don’t rock the boat

 To bail someone out=to help a person or organization that is having problems, especially
financial problems
 To pull together=if people pull together, they work together to achieve something
 In time of crisis, communities pull together.
 Like rats deserting/leaving a sinking ship=in a hurry to leave when problems occur
 To rock the boat=to cause problems by changing a situation that is considered satisfactory
 I realise I am new here and I don’t want to rock the boat.
 On the rocks=if a business or relationship is on the rocks, it is having serious difficulties and is
likely to fail soon
 Mutiny=a refusal by a group to accept someone’s authority, especially a group of soldiers or
sailors
 Uncharted territory/waters=an activity subject that people do not know anything about or have
not experienced before