BE 415: Idioms That Give You an Ace Up Your Sleeve
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This is the Business English Podcast, Episode 415, Idioms That Give You An Ace Up Your Sleeve.

Welcome to the Business English podcast from All Ears English. Get the English skills you need to achieve your dreams in global business. For a presentation, a meeting, or your office party, this is Real Business English with your favorite American hosts, Lindsay and Aubrey, coming to you from Arizona and Colorado, USA. Welcome to the Business English podcast from All Ears English.

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Hey, Aubrey, how's it going? Excellent. I have a question for you, Lindsay. Okay. Okay. Would you ever cheat at a card game? Like maybe hide an ace up your sleeve? I don't know that I would be good enough at the game to cheat, honestly.

I wouldn't cheat because I know I couldn't get away with it. No, I would never get away with it. What about you, Aubrey? I want to know your answer. No, I was raised in a family. It was very important not to cheat. And I wouldn't even want to. I would almost rather lose a game and have it be close, have it be fun competition. I don't really care that much about winning. I would never cheat to

win. No, it doesn't feel good, right? Like you didn't deserve this. It's not a good, but a lot of people do. It's interesting how sometimes, so my husband's family is a good example where they grew up kind of learning that like, you should try and cheat if you can get away with it. And the first time I played games with one of, with their family, his sister, we were playing Pictionary and she kept whispering a word and I was confused. And then I realized she was whispering the word I was supposed to guess. I was like, what? She's like, Oh yeah. She's like, we could have won if you would have just said it out loud.

And they wasn't even sort of on their radar that that would be like not okay. Because they're just like, why wouldn't you? It's so interesting. It kind of depends on how you're raised, right? Yeah, it's a clash of values. That's fantastic. That's just fascinating to me. I have talked them out of it now. I'm like, no, that takes away all the fun of it.

Interesting. Okay, that's good. That's good. What's the point, right? I agree. This is interesting. This is part two of a three-part series on idioms about card playing. There are so many idioms about card playing in English. You can listen to this series out of order. So stay to the end to hear how you can hear the rest of the series. But this is part two with idioms we use at work a lot that all come from card playing.

Yep. And when I think of card playing, the only thing that I think of is Las Vegas. So if you haven't visited Las Vegas, I mean, it's definitely an experience, something to check out at some point, right? Absolutely. It is. It is really crazy. I the most recent I actually gambled was in most recently was in Atlantic City, actually. Oh, yeah. New York. Have you ever been to Atlantic City?

I think I have. Yeah, it's another famous... It's like a tiny Las Vegas, kind of. Yeah, a mini Las Vegas. Yes, yes, for sure. But I'm not comfortable gambling. It was like a $20 minimum bet and I won $20. So then I left and cashed out immediately because I didn't want that feeling of losing money.

no that's what i would do too for sure yeah the point is this is really embedded in our language and if you you're going to connect we're going to need to speak these native natural phrases use these phrases right so again part two of a three-part series right and we'll let you know later where to go to check that out

Yes, but be sure to hit follow so that you don't miss. We often will do these series, both Allers English and Business English. Be sure to follow both. Sometimes we'll have a series where like this, the first part is on Allers English. The rest will be here on Business English because often for a theme like this, some of the vocabulary is more for everyday conversations, some more for here at work. So be sure to follow both podcasts. Yeah. So we're going to look at these today in the business context. So number one is ace up your sleeve. Okay.

Tell us about this one, Aubrey. Yeah. So this is an advantage that you have. What's interesting, when I was looking up definitions, the internet, right, the dictionary says an advantage that you've gained by cheating, but it's not really used that way. Right. So an ace up your sleeve would mean you're cheating at cards.

But for example, we might say we have an ace up our sleeve with this new VP. His reputation really precedes him. And this just means we have a benefit. We have an advantage. It would not mean that we had gotten this in some underhanded way. Yeah. The idea of an unfair advantage, maybe. Right. It might seem unfair, but it's not really unfair. It's just it's beneficial to you. Some kind of advantage. Yeah. Or like if you might say if you get an MBA, you'll really have an ace up your sleeve.

That doesn't mean you cheated, right? You paid, you went to school, you got the MBA. Yes, you now have an advantage, but it wasn't through cheating. So it's interesting. You might see that in the dictionary. That's not really how we use it in common speech or at work. Yeah, that is interesting that we've kind of taken the meaning and changed it when we apply it to life and business. Yeah.

All right. Good stuff. An ace up your sleeve. The second one, hold all the aces or have all the aces. Okay. Sort of means to have all the advantages, right? So maybe you'll say negotiating is going to be really difficult. They hold all the aces. This would mean like we don't really have any room for negotiation. We don't really have anything that we can offer. They have all the advantages. Yes. Or she has all the aces. So I don't know if she'll listen to anything we say.

Oh, difficult situation. Maybe don't go in a negotiation. Exactly. Right. And this has happened. I don't know about you, Lindsay, but this does happen both at work and in life. Maybe you're purchasing a home and you would love to be able to negotiate, but you want the house so badly. The seller has all the aces.

Well, it depends on the market, right? When we bought our house in 2021, it was a seller's market. The prices were just like they weren't... You had no negotiating power. I mean, people would be making bids 50K over asking price. 10 people would bid 50K over asking price. There's no way you're going to come in and say, I'll give you 75% of what you asked. It's just not

Yeah, exactly. The seller had all the aces. This is what I would say. They have all the advantages. They have all the negotiating power. Exactly. Last one is ace in the hole. What does this mean? Yeah. So this is an advantage that you have that others don't know about. So, for example, you might say their ace in the hole is an airtight non-compete clause in the contract.

So this would be some kind of advantage, but maybe in the first place, people don't know. It might be something that like, it's just not general common knowledge. Yes, I love it. Or you could say, don't worry about me. I've got an ace in the hole. And in this case, we're being kind of mysterious. We're not necessarily saying what it is.

Yeah, this happens a lot, right? Oh, don't worry about me. I've got an ace in the hole. You don't know what it is. I'm not going to tell you. But just so you know, I have an advantage. I have something that I'm cooking up. Yeah. And so you might say this to a teammate that you've just been teamed up with. Hey, we can do this. Don't worry. I've got an ace in the hole. Right. Maybe they're worried about your probability of success. Oh, don't worry. I've got an ace in the hole. Yes.

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Okay, there's more, Aubrey. There's more. What is the next one? Showdown.

And this vying is an interesting word. It means to compete or contend. But we'll use this a lot when things get competitive. That's a good bonus for today, right? Vying, guys, write that one down for today. Very high level word. Okay. Next one or next example. I'm not really interested in a showdown, so you can lead the team if you'd like. What

What is this saying? So maybe if two people are up for the position of leading a team and they're asking you, do you care either way? And you know you would have to like join some kind of competition to fight it out if you want it, right? You're like, you know, I'm not really interested in a showdown. So you're taking yourself out of the competition. Sort of removing yourself from the competition. I see. Interesting. Okay. And then follow suit. I definitely hear this one a lot.

Yes, definitely. Right. This means to act in a way that is what would be expected, that it's consistent with what someone else has done or said. Kind of like falling in line, that sort of thing. Kind of. Or following an example. Like you might say, my boss is never here on time, so I just follow suit.

Right. Like, why would I get here on time if nobody cares? Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. You know, the boss has to set the example, right? Everyone should follow suit if we set clear expectations for our company culture. Yeah, same kind of thing, right? If we set clear expectations, everyone else will follow suit. Nice. I love it. Let's put this, let's deploy these in a role play, Aubrey, and let's see what it looks like. All right. You start us out. Okay.

Well, I'm not sure how we're going to convince MedSpa to stay with us. This showdown with Dynovax has not gone well for us. They seem to have all the aces. Don't worry. I have an ace up my sleeve. Oh, yeah? What is it? Mark, in their senior leadership, has been my good friend since childhood. Oh, wow. That is an ace in the hole. He assured me they're not planning on switching to Dynovax.

That is great news. Many of our clients are waiting to see what MedSpa does and if they stay, everyone else should follow suit. Nice. That would be an ace up my sleeve, right? It comes down to the connections from childhood, right? Totally. This does happen, right? Sometimes, especially where if you don't know what's going to happen, but you have that little insider information, then the trick is to just not do any insider trading and buy stocks accordingly, right?

Yeah, right. Love it. Love it. So what would, what do we say here? So I said first, this showdown, meaning this competition hasn't gone well for us. They seem to have all the aces, meaning they have all the advantages. Right. So we have our competition is this company. I just chose the name Dynovax. Yeah.

I'm like, we have a showdown between them, some kind of competition. And then we have this client that is an important client to us that could switch to MedinoVax, right? And then we called them MedSpa. So we said, they seem to have all the aces. So for whatever they have, maybe they have new software, newer technology. They seem to have advantages that we don't have.

Love it. And then what, Aubrey, what'd you say after that? And I said, don't worry, I have an ace up my sleeve. So that means I have some kind of advantage maybe that people don't know about or just some kind of advantage.

Nice. And then you said, "Mark is my friend. He's in their senior leadership. He was my friend since childhood." And then I said, "Oh, wow, that is an ace in the hole." Right? Yeah. And that is... So the actual... It's interesting. The dictionary definition was that this ace in the hole would be more an advantage that nobody knows about.

I could definitely see this being used. I feel like I've heard this used more synonymously with an ace up my sleeve, right? Just be like, oh, I've got an ace in the hole. And I just mean an advantage. I think the average speaker of English wouldn't necessarily associate that with like an unknown hidden advantage. Sometimes, yes, maybe, but I feel like I hear them used very synonymously. Sure. Yeah. I think the average person is just, it's just an advantage. Just an advantage. Yep. I agree. Keep it simple here. Right. Yeah. Love it. And then we use

follow suit? How did I use that? Yeah, so you're saying this is great. Many of our clients are waiting to see what Med Spa does. If they stay, everyone else will follow suit. So it means everyone else will follow their example, right? They're like an industry leader, a bigger company. So that often happens, right? Companies will follow suit depending on what their competition is doing. Yes,

- Wow, we have, cards are everywhere. They're everywhere in our social lives and our business lives. So guys go and check out part one. And that episode was 2406 on All Ears English podcast, play your cards right with English idioms. So open your search bar, type in All Ears English and you will see it come up, hit follow, okay? - Yes, and all of the idioms there we use in everyday conversation, but we also use them all at work too. So you don't wanna miss that episode.

Ooh, what's the takeaway today, Aubrey? Speaking the language of business success, right? I could not believe how many idioms there are about card playing. I guess it makes sense because it's so prevalent in our culture. But we use idioms about card playing all the time in business English and everyday conversations. So I recommend you pick one of these today to add to your next conversation because there are so many uses. They're so flexible and there are so many of them. You can definitely pick one to add.

I think that's a really good strategy. Choose one. Don't try to use all of them. You'll be overwhelmed and you'll get better at looking for scenarios where that one phrase will fit and you'll find it, right? You'll definitely find it. Absolutely. And once it's part of your active vocabulary, you've got it down, come back and pick another one because these all, we use them all the time. They're all very fun.

Awesome. Good stuff, Aubrey. Thanks for being here. Maybe another day we'll talk about Cardscape. There is a part three in this, yeah or no? Yes. You guys hit follow because part three will be right here on Business English. All right. Sounds good. See you there. See you there. Bye.

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