Work & School

American slang for workplace and academic life

はじめに

アメリカの職場と学校にはそれぞれ独自のスラングがあります。「senioritis」（卒業間近で怠けたくなる症候群）から「pulling an all-nighter」（徹夜すること）まで、アメリカの仕事と学業文化の共通体験を捉えた表現です。

この章では、オフィス、教室、キャンパスで使われるアメリカのスラングを紹介します。仕事と学校生活をもっと身近に感じさせてくれるカジュアルな語彙です。

テーマ

この章のアメリカ英語スラング一覧（91）

• Senioritis A decline in motivation and effort experienced by students in their final yea...
• Pull an all-nighter To stay up all night working, studying, or completing a task.
• Cram To study intensively at the last minute, usually right before an exam.
• Hit the books A common idiom meaning to begin studying seriously, especially for exams.
• Ace it To perform excellently on a test, task, or challenge.
• Flunk To fail a test, course, or academic requirement.
• Ditch class To intentionally skip or miss a class without permission.
• Teacher's pet A student who is perceived as the teacher's favorite, often because they try ...
• Brown-noser A person who excessively flatters or sucks up to someone in authority to gain...
• Clock in, clock out To do the minimum required at work without extra effort or engagement, just s...
• Pink slip A notice of termination from a job; to be fired.
• TGIF Acronym for 'Thank God It's Friday,' expressing relief and excitement that th...
• Water cooler talk Casual conversation and gossip shared among coworkers, typically about non-wo...
• Dead-end job A job with no opportunities for advancement, growth, or career development.
• Phoning it in Putting minimal effort into a task; going through the motions without real en...
• WFH Acronym for 'Work From Home,' referring to remote work.
• Graveyard shift The overnight work shift, typically from around midnight to 8 AM.
• Pop quiz An unannounced, surprise test given by a teacher without prior warning.
• No-brainer A decision or choice that is extremely easy and obvious, requiring no thought.
• In the weeds Overwhelmed with work or mired in excessive detail, unable to keep up.
• Brain fart A temporary mental lapse or moment of forgetfulness.
• Cheat sheet A concise reference guide or summary used for quick information, or a hidden ...
• Grade on a curve To adjust test scores relative to the class average, so that grades are distr...
• Dropout A person who has left school or college before completing their degree or dip...
• Heads down Focused intently on work without distractions.
• Job hopper A person who frequently changes jobs, typically staying only a short time at ...
• Kiss-up A person who flatters or sucks up to someone in authority; to be excessively ...
• On the clock Currently working or during paid work hours; also means under time pressure.
• Play hooky To skip school or work without a legitimate excuse.
• Put in your two weeks To formally resign from a job by giving two weeks' notice before your last day.
• School of hard knocks Life experience and tough lessons learned through real-world struggles rather...
• Slack off To be lazy or avoid doing work; to put in less effort than expected.
• Spring break A one- to two-week vacation from school in the spring, famous in American cul...
• Straight A's Perfect grades; receiving the highest possible marks in all courses.
• Study buddy A friend or classmate you regularly study with.
• Swamped Extremely busy or overwhelmed with work or tasks.
• Think outside the box To think creatively or unconventionally; to approach a problem in a novel way.
• Time crunch A situation where there is very little time to complete a task; a tight deadl...
• Workaholic A person who compulsively works excessively long hours and has difficulty sto...
• Wing it To improvise or do something without preparation or planning.
• Honor roll A list of students who have achieved high academic grades during a term.
• Tardy Late to class or school; used in the American school system for recording lat...
• Blow off To skip, ignore, or dismiss something you're supposed to do; also to ignore a...
• Busywork Pointless or meaningless tasks assigned just to keep someone occupied.
• Desk jockey An office worker who spends most of their time sitting at a desk.
• Pencil pusher A bureaucratic office worker who handles paperwork and administrative tasks.
• Corner office The office with the best view and most space, symbolizing executive-level suc...
• Glass ceiling An invisible barrier that prevents certain groups, especially women and minor...
• Fast-track An accelerated path to promotion or success; to expedite a process.
• Micromanager A boss or supervisor who controls every tiny detail of their employees' work,...
• Office politics The informal power dynamics, alliances, and manipulation that happen in a wor...
• Pass the buck To shift responsibility or blame to someone else instead of dealing with it y...
• Crunch time The critical, high-pressure period just before a deadline when intense effort...
• Get the axe To be fired from a job or to have a project or program eliminated.
• Take five To take a short break, usually about five minutes.
• Back to the grind Returning to work or routine tasks after a break or time off.
• Cut corners To do something in the cheapest or easiest way, often sacrificing quality or ...
• Extra credit Additional work a student can do for bonus points; figuratively, going beyond...
• Finals week The week at the end of a semester when final exams are held, known for extrem...
• Flunk out To be dismissed from a school or college due to failing grades.
• Get schooled To be taught a lesson, usually by being decisively beaten or corrected by som...
• Grade grubber A student who constantly argues with teachers for extra points or higher grades.
• In the trenches Doing the hard, hands-on, day-to-day work; being in the thick of a difficult ...
• Learn the ropes To learn the basics of a new job, skill, or activity.
• Make the cut To meet the required standard; to qualify or be selected.
• Nail the interview To perform exceptionally well in a job interview.
• On thin ice In a precarious or risky position; close to getting in serious trouble.
• Overachiever A person who does more than expected or exceeds the standard level of achieve...
• Pull strings To use personal connections, influence, or power to get something done or gai...
• Put in the work To invest significant effort and time into achieving a goal.
• Run the show To be in charge; to be the person who makes all the important decisions.
• Shape up or ship out An ultimatum telling someone to improve their behavior or performance, or els...
• Call it a day To stop working and end the workday or session.
• Burn the midnight oil To work or study late into the night.
• Skate by To barely pass or get by with minimal effort, doing just enough to avoid fail...
• Underachiever A person who doesn't perform to their full potential, especially academically...
• Rubber stamp To approve something automatically without real review or consideration; also...
• Crunch the numbers To analyze data or perform calculations, especially complex financial or stat...
• Quiet quitting Doing only the bare minimum required at work, refusing to go above and beyond...
• Act your wage To only do the amount of work that matches your pay, refusing to overwork for...
• Sunday scaries The anxiety and dread felt on Sunday evening about the upcoming work or schoo...
• Cubicle farm A large open office filled with rows of identical cubicles.
• Hall pass A written permission slip allowing a student to be in the hallway during clas...
• Detention A punishment in American schools where a student must stay after regular hour...
• Recess A scheduled break during the school day for children to play outside; figurat...
• Monday blues A feeling of sadness, low energy, or lack of motivation that comes with the s...
• Team player Someone who works well with others and puts the group's success above persona...
• Sleep on it To wait until the next day before making a decision, allowing time to think i...
• Take a sick day To miss work claiming illness, whether genuinely sick or not.
• Goldbricker A person who avoids work or shirks their duties while appearing busy.
• Bean counter A derogatory term for an accountant or anyone overly focused on budgets and n...