BE 619: We’re Pulling Out the Big Guns Today!

This is the Business English Podcast episode 619. We're pulling out the big guns today. Welcome to the Business English Podcast from All Ears English. Get the English skills you need to achieve your dreams in global business.

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Hey, Lindsay, how are you today? Hey, Aubrey, doing pretty good. How are you? What's going on? I'm great. I have a question. If you had to guess, how many phrases do you think in English contain the word gun?

Oh my God, so many. I would have to guess between 30 and 40. Okay. Okay, you're very close. I had to look it up and nothing was like, this is the specific we have counted for sure.

But closest guess we could find is 46. 46 idioms and phrases with the word gun. So yeah, that is a lot, right? Of course, we've got jump the gun, under the gun, stick to your guns.

There's so many that we use in everyday conversations. And today, we're going to teach one that we use a lot at work with some other phrases that have a very similar meaning. And what's tricky is these aren't actually about guns, right? Yes, guns are very prevalent in American culture.

We have this word in our language a lot. But when we use these phrases and expressions, we're not thinking about guns. We're thinking about this other meaning. Yeah.

Especially in a business context, right? I mean, we're obviously not thinking about guns, but it's important to know these idioms. I mean, it's important in business to speak a little bit casually at times. Exactly.

Yes. This actually came up in a recent episode where you were talking about how you had to escalate how obvious you were being with hints that you were ready for a guest to leave. And Michelle said, oh, you were pulling out the big guns. Yeah.

I was like, that's such a great expression and we use it at work. So stay to the end and we'll share that episode as well as where you can find part two of this series. Both of those are over on Allers English. So you can definitely listen to these out of order.

And today we'll share these that you can use at work. All right. Really good. So we're going to start with the first one that you could use at work, which is again, what Michelle said on the podcast, pull out the big guns or bring out the big guns.

Yep. You'll hear both. Right. Exactly. Which means to use very strong methods, tools or strategies to achieve a goal. We do this a lot at work. We say it a lot at work.

Time to pull out the big guns or time to bring out the big guns. So you're going to use different methods, maybe try harder in a way, try something in a different way, something that you've been reserving. Right. Yes, exactly.

So for example, they brought out the big guns during negotiations to secure the deal. So this could be a strategy. It could be changing the money, right? There's all kinds of things that could be pulling out the big guns.

Or they might have a person who's especially good at negotiating that they call in. They say like, all right, bring out the big guns, call them. Jessica, she's especially good at negotiating, right? Yes, yes, exactly.

Or I heard they're offering a cash prize for the company-wide health initiative, pulling out the big guns, right? That means cash, right? Money is what they're pulling out because everyone, most people like cash, right? Exactly, right?

If they're like, oh, we're doing a health initiative just because, but now that there's a cash prize, they're upping the stakes is another way we say that. They're pulling out the big guns to give some more motivation. Yeah.

Mm-hmm. Exactly. Exactly. And what about heavy artillery? Do you ever hear that, Aubrey, in English? I saw this online. I don't use this as much, but I have heard it.

It means the same as bringing out the big guns to say, we're going to bring out the heavy artillery. So for example, when facing a lawsuit, the company brought out the heavy artillery. They hired a team of legal experts. So this is more rare.

You might hear it. If you can use it, people will know what you mean, but it's definitely more common to say they bring out the big guns. Interesting. And then we have the expression go all out.

Interesting. Is this one linked to? Yeah. So these have the same meanings as we're going to teach two more that mean the same thing as pulling out the big guns or bringing out the big guns because you don't want to say that every time, right?

If you're having a conversation and you're talking about going all out, putting in maximum effort, that's not when you'd want to say over and over and over. So we're going to give you a couple of other options here. Yes, I love it. So again, yeah, to use the maximum effort, you know, we're going all out on this product launch to make sure it succeeds.

We're trying our best, right? Or the team went all out to impress the client during the presentation. So this means, yeah, maximum effort. It's the goal is really important.

So whatever you need to do to up the game a little bit, you're going to go all out. Yeah. So maybe, for example, they took the client out to a fancy dinner at the Four Seasons or something, ordered the best champagne on the menu. These would be things that you might do to impress a client.

And we use this, of course, in everyday conversations as well. If we're throwing a party, if we're going to a fancy restaurant, if you are raising the budget or putting in more effort, just be like, we're going all out. Yeah. I mean, going all out could mean different things to different people.

I remember I knew someone in college who was so – she was kind of like a jock and a basketball player. She was so casual that she never wore jeans. Like jeans to her were really fancy. So whenever – she would wear jeans.

Oh, you're going all out for this party, for this event. Right? That's how she was like really dressed up. Yeah. Not wearing basketball shorts. Exactly.

Exactly. It's true. It depends. It's a different levels for everybody, right? How fancy the restaurant might be, how much effort you put into a party.

I'm not one to really like decorate for a party. So if I throw up a few decorations, I'm like, oh, I went all out. Yeah. Whereas others, I have a neighbor who really goes all out like so many decorations and balloons and hors d'oeuvres and drink stations.

And yeah, I'm not at that level. Yeah. It's different for everyone. We're all in our own place doing our very best. And then pull out all the stops would be another one.

So to do everything that's possible to make something succeed, right? Make it successful. Yeah. So what would that look like? Like the marketing team pulled out all the stops for the campaign, right?

So this, just like we said, this is going to look different depending on the person, the team, each person, the maximum effort they can put in looks different from the maximum effort another person might put in, right? So when you pull out all the stops that might look different depending on the company or the teammate. Exactly. Exactly.

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Take the quiz now at allearsenglish.com slash fluency score. That's allearsenglish.com slash F-L-U-E-N-C-Y-S-C-O-R-E. Okay, Aubrey, let's break into a role play. So here we're coworkers and we're in a client pitch strategy meeting.

Meeting. High stakes. High stakes. All right. This is a huge client for us. If we win this account, it could completely change our position in the market.

I agree. I think we need to go all out on this pitch. Let's avoid any standard templates or recycled slides. Everything should be tailored specifically to them.

Exactly. Let's pull out all the stops, custom demo, upgraded visuals, maybe even a live walkthrough of the product. Yes. And honestly, this might be the moment to bring out the big guns.

We could bring in our senior strategist and our top UX designer to strengthen the proposal. I love it. That should send a clear message that we're serious about this account.

Nice. Yeah, this is a great role play. This happens a lot at work when you are talking about upping the stakes like that, right? What can we do to really show a client that we are putting in maximum effort?

Love it. So Aubrey, what was the episode? Oh, actually, let's go through what we said in the role play. Don't jump the gun here. So first, you know, you said, well, I said this is a big client, right?

We need to win this client. You said, I agree. I think we need to go all out on this pitch. So you need to do everything you possibly can to get the business.

Yeah. And I'm sharing what we maybe would do. There might be previous presentations where you are using recycled slides and just changing the branding. If you're going to go all out, you're trying to tailor it more to them.

You're trying to put in more effort, whatever that might look like. Exactly. And then I said, exactly. Let's pull out all the stops. Again, very similar, right?

Doing all the little things, the special things, custom demo, upgraded visuals. Okay. I'm curious where this idiom comes from. Pull out all the stops.

It's like, I'm imagining if you have stops would be sort of something that's plugging a hole or a gap. And if you pull them out, maybe like a dam has stops, right? If you would pull something out of a dam and then the water could go, I'm curious. We'd have to look up the background of that one.

Yeah, we would have to. And then what did you say is the last one? And I said, honestly, this might be the moment to bring out the big guns. And I'm talking about some senior strategists, some top people that would be our big guns.

They're not on every call. They're not on every deck creation, but maybe we need to call them for this one. Yeah, and it's interesting with this phrase, bring out the big guns. Sometimes it can apply to like resources, but sometimes it can actually be people.

Because have you ever heard the expression, a hired gun? Have you heard that before? Like you bring in a contractor, a hired gun, like someone is just like a really, really talented... They're bringing in a hired gun for this task.

Like you said, the negotiation. Similar to bringing in the big guns, right? A hired gun would be like that expert or maybe you're consulting with someone, right? A consultant.

Yeah. Yeah, exactly. But that's more specifically about a person. Bringing out the big guns, I think, could be a person is coming, a special person. Or it could be, again, we're using our resources in a special way.

Exactly. Right. It could be either. Interesting. But yeah, with all three of these, you have three very different and interesting ways to share that you are just putting in maximum effort.

Yeah. And we always want to do our best, right? So Aubrey, what was the episode that inspired this one, would you say? All right. So it was over on All Ears English, episode 2601.

I'm so glad we did this. Subtle ways to end a gathering. So that was where Michelle used this phrase. So naturally, right? And we definitely want to point you to that if you missed it.

But also part two of this series will be over on the All Ears English podcast, which with idioms that have the word gun. We use it so much in English. So be sure to follow Allers English.

If you missed that first episode, go check it out and so that you don't miss part two. Yeah, guys, don't miss it. And today's episode, we touched on guns a little bit and we do more so in part two of this series over on All Ears English. But this idea of putting in your very best to achieve something, I think that's really the theme here, right?

Doing all the things, going all out, pulling out all the stops. Yeah. This is important to express that you've done this, especially when you really have put in that extra effort. The thing matters to you.

It's important to show your team and the people at work what you've done. Absolutely. Which is always key to promotions as well, right? If no one knows that you're putting in maximum effort, that you're pulling out all the stops for all of these projects, then...

you know, where's the progress going to come, right? You need to make sure to express this, let people know when you are, when you are the big guns. That's a good point. Or when you're using your, yeah, using your resources well as a really important skill in any workplace.

So to show that you care enough to use your resources well, to find the resources is huge, right? In terms of, yeah, yeah. All right. Good stuff, Aubrey.

We'll see you very soon. You have a good rest of your day. All right. Awesome. Thanks, Lindsay. See you guys next time. Bye. Thank you. Bye. Thank you for listening to Business English, a podcast just for you, the high achieving global professional.

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