Can You Tell a 'Bigwig' from a 'Yes Man'?
Many expressions from business and politics are used to describe different people. Here are some that you can try to use at work!
Someone with a lot of power can sometimes be called a "bigwig." The expression comes from the 18th century, when large and expensive wigs were very popular among the rich and powerful of Europe.
So if you were getting ready for a meeting with the top managers of your company, you might say, "I'm meeting with the bigwigs today. I need to impress them!"
If you want to make sure your math or finances are correct, you might need a "number cruncher." This is a person who is good at "crunching the numbers," or doing math and organizing numbers, like an accountant. And if that person doesn't like it when you spend money, you might call them a "bean counter," which is a person who is very fussy about records or accounts.
So you might say, "I stayed up all night crunching the numbers for the meeting. I know some of those bigwigs are real bean counters!"
Because bigwigs are powerful people, they sometimes have "yes men" around them. As you might guess, a yes man always agrees with a person in power, even though they might actually disagree.
So if the bigwigs at the meeting said they didn't like your idea, and your co-worker agreed with them, you might say, "I know you want to impress the bigwigs, but why were you such a yes man during the meeting? Now I have to throw out my idea and think of a new one!"
