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&lt;p&gt;Since the jaw-dropping Super Bowl game on Sunday, football has been a major topic of conversation in my office. This got me thinking about how sports and business intersect in the workplace. Though not immediately apparent, there are many similarities between the worlds of business and sports, from their environments comprised of teams and leaders to best practices such as developing strategies and setting goals. Yet the similarity that stands out to me the most has to do with language; many of us incorporate sports references into our business conversations every day, often without even realizing it. Here are 10 of the most common sports idioms used in the workplace.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&#160;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;1. Touch base&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Derived from: Baseball&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Meaning: To connect with or briefly meet&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ex: “I need to &lt;em&gt;touch base&lt;/em&gt; with my coworker to make sure I understand all the steps of this project.”&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&#160;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;2. Game plan&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Derived from: Any sport&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Meaning: A strategy worked out in advance&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ex: “Our team needs to develop a &lt;em&gt;game plan&lt;/em&gt; for growing our social media presence this year.”&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&#160;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;3. Drop the ball&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Derived from: Football/baseball&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Meaning: Make a mistake&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ex: “He really &lt;em&gt;dropped the ball &lt;/em&gt;when he forgot to get final approval by the due date.”&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&#160;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;4. Up to par&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Derived from: Golf&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Meaning: Up to standard&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ex: “The client did not think the deck our team put together was &lt;em&gt;up to par&lt;/em&gt;, so we had to make a lot of changes.”&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&#160;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;5. Blindsided&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Derived from: Football&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Meaning: Caught unprepared&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ex: “The manager was &lt;em&gt;blindsided&lt;/em&gt; when his employee accepted a job at another company with no notice, right before the busiest quarter of the year.”&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&#160;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;6. Strike out&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Derived from: Baseball&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Meaning: To fail&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ex: “She really &lt;em&gt;struck out&lt;/em&gt; on that deal; the client immediately rejected her pitch.”&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&#160;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;7. Learn the ropes&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Derived from: Sailing&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Meaning: To understand how to do a particular job&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ex: “The intern quickly had to &lt;em&gt;learn the ropes&lt;/em&gt; so he could help plan the company event that week.”&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&#160;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;8. Knock it out of the park&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Derived from: Baseball&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Meaning: To do something extraordinarily well&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ex: “Her presentation was clear, informative, and engaging. She really &lt;em&gt;knocked it out of the park&lt;/em&gt;.”&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&#160;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;9. On target&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Derived from: Darts&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Meaning: On schedule to succeed&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ex: “We are &lt;em&gt;on target&lt;/em&gt; to meet our budget for this month.”&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&#160;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;10. Take a rain check&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Derived from: Baseball&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Meaning: To accept an offer for a later time&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ex: “I’d love to grab coffee this week but may need to &lt;em&gt;take a rain check&lt;/em&gt;, as I’m up against several deadlines right now.”&lt;/p&gt;

Isabel Sperry

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