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Business English vocabulary · Negotiations

Above board

Meaning in business english, with examples

idiomCommon term

In business english, above board means: Open and honest, without hidden deception.

In Turkish: açık ve dürüst, usule uygun

How it is used

Used when discussing the honesty of arrangements. It expresses an assessment of openness; formal compliance still requires its own evidence.

Example sentences

  1. To keep the selection above board, we shared the same requirements with every supplier.

    Equal access to the requirements supports a transparent selection process.

  2. The arrangement looked above board until we discovered an undisclosed payment to the adviser.

    The hidden payment changes the speaker's assessment of the arrangement's integrity.

Common collocations

  • keep everything above board
  • appear above board
  • company policyAn official rule or set of rules that guides how employees should act in particular situations at work.
  • contractA formal written agreement between two or more parties that sets out what each side must do and can be enforced by law.

More terms: Negotiations

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