words and phrases using food words

Meat

The important part of a presentation or project

“Rika-san will get to the meat of her presentation after the coffee break.”

A similar phrase is meat and potatoes. Like the main course of a meal, the meat and potatoes are the fundamental but indispensable parts of a project or job.

Gravy

The profit

“We still have to deduct the shipping costs, but the rest is gravy.”

Gravy is a type of sauce used on meat and potatoes.

Trim the fat

Reduce the unnecessary expenses

“Ito-san has to trim the fat before he presents the sales budget to his boss.”

Watered-down

Weakened or milder

“Takeda-san gave a watered-down version of his conference speech to the office staff today.”

Icing on the cake

The additional bonus, the unexpected additional good news

“Reiko-san had expected the year-end bonus, but the icing on the cake was the additional holiday week her boss granted.”