Idioms related to Business negotiations – Free business English lesson One of the most important skill one can hold is the ability to negotiate. Negotiation is a dialogue between two or more people or parties intended to reach to an understanding or come to an agreement. In the business world you may have come across people, using different idioms related to negotiations for variety of reason such as to negotiate a salary, or a promotion, to secure a sale or to form a new partnership. In this lesson you will learn some interesting business English idioms related to negotiating. Here are some Business negotiation idioms for you: 1) Above board – If business negotiations are described as above board it means they are open, legal and honest. Example – Our dealing have always been above board. 2) Bend over backwards : - If you bend over backwards it means you try very hard to do something in order to please someone Example – Your business is very important to us hence we will bend over backwards to keep it up. 3) Blank Check – To give someone the permission or to authorize someone to do what they think is the best in a situation. Example – John was given a blank check by his boss and was told to get the best deal possible. 4) Bide your time – To wait patiently for a good opportunity to do something. Example – He’s not hesitating to work with your company, he’s just biding his time for the prices to drop. 5) Blow a deal - To ruin a business deal with someone Example – We don’t want to blow the deal with your company because of our minor mistakes. 6) Get the raw end of the deal – A bad deal for you. When something is not fair and not in your favour Example – The contract is ours but the company won’t use our name on the product, we have got the raw end of the deal. 7) Come to terms – To reach an agreement Example – After negotiating all day long the company came to terms with the new rates.