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What Does “Boil the Ocean” Mean in Business English?
- Erin West
- Apr 21
- 2 min read
Updated: Apr 28
Learn Business English phrases with our Phrase of the Week!
This week’s phrase is all about knowing when to focus — and when you're trying to do way too much at once.
What Would You Do in This Situation?
Picture this:
Your team is planning a new product launch. You start listing ideas…
Let’s redesign the website.
And rewrite the brand message.
And change our pricing model.
And launch in three new markets.
Your colleague pauses and says:
Hey… are we trying to boil the ocean here?
Wait — boil the ocean?
So what does "boil the ocean" mean?
This Week's Phrase:
BOIL THE OCEAN
idiom
to try to do too much at once, or do something that is too big or too hard to finish
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What Does “Boil the Ocean” Mean in Business English?
Listen to a Real-Life Example
What Does “Boil the Ocean” Mean? More Real-Life Examples
Planning a Presentation
-I was thinking we could talk about every department’s goals.
-That’s boiling the ocean. It’s too much for one meeting.
-Good point. I’ll just cover marketing and sales.
- Perfect. That’s manageable.
New Project
-What if we redesign the whole app and change the logo?
-That feels like boiling the ocean.
-You’re right. Maybe just start with the homepage?
-Yeah, one step at a time.
To-Do List
- I made a list of 20 things we should fix this week.
- Whoa, that’s boiling the ocean.
- Yeah... I guess I got carried away.
- Let’s just pick 3 to focus on first.
Let’s Chat!
Have you ever started a project at work or school and realized you were trying to boil the ocean?
Oh, for sure. At the start of the semester, I decided to completely redesign my entire curriculum — new lessons, new activities, everything. A week in, I realized I was boiling the ocean. It was just too much to handle all at once, especially with grading, meetings, the usual day-to-day stuff. I took a step back and focused on updating just the first two units — and that made everything way more manageable. (Mary, a native English speaker and teacher )
Review what you’ve learned! Click the image to try a 5-Question Quiz based on our latest phrases.
This Week’s Business English Quiz:
Boil the Ocean, Run With It, Cut Corners, Put Out Fires & Play Hardball
