Recently, I attended a webinar on cross-cultural communication with Avinash Chandarana. He reminded me of a curiously American habit of using sports-related idioms in our communications. While generalizations can be problematic, as a whole, Americans are extremely sports minded. This comes across in our written and verbal communication with the prominent use of sports idioms and metaphors—even among people who don’t consider themselves sports enthusiasts, and probably without even conscious awareness of it. The use of these idioms can hinder effective recruiter communication with clients and candidates.
Sports idioms, while effective among Americans, cause communication difficulties in a multicultural environment. In a better-case scenario, they can come across as excessively competitive. In worse scenarios, they might sound weird. For non-native English speakers, they are difficult (sometimes impossible) to understand. I have been making a concerted effort to avoid these phrases in my own communication—and I know I have a long way to go. I challenge you to consider doing the same. Here is a list of commonly used sports idioms—I think you’ll find you’re using at least some of these phrases on a regular basis, without knowing it and possibly without even realizing they originated with sports!
- In the ballpark / ballpark estimate / ballpark figure
- Big hitter / heavy hitter
- Hit it out of the park / knock it out of the park
- Two strikes / third strike / three strikes you’re out
- Par for the course
- Get the ball rolling
- Tee it up
- Slam dunk
- Out of left field
- Hail Mary
- Drop the ball / dropped the ball
- The ball is in your court
- In the home stretch
- Level the playing field
- Keep your eye on the ball / Took your eye off the ball
- Threw a curveball
- Skating on thin ice
- Come off the bench
- Having a deep (or shallow) bench
- Down for the count
- Saved by the bell
- Dead in the water
- Treading water
- On deck
- On the ropes
- Take one for the team
- Take the ball and run with it
- Monday morning quarterback
- Spitballing
- Hurdle
- Toe the line
- Jump the gun
- Touchdown
- Come out swinging
- Playing hardball
- In the big leagues
- Out of your league
- Wildcard
- Move the goalposts
- Take a rain check
- Go to bat for someone
- Batting / hitting 1.000
- Throw in the towel
- Full court press
Clear recruiter communication is critical for everyone, but especially those whose clients, candidates, or split partners are in multiple countries and/or have different cultural backgrounds. Removing sports idioms is a good place to start.