“At the end of the day, though, we can't afford to turn away business... as I'm sure you're aware.”

English Lesson: At the end of the day, though, we can't afford to turn away business... as I'm sure you're aware.

A company wants to advertise on your Internet site. One of your employees thinks that this advertiser is dishonest, and doesn't think that you should accept the ad. You understand his point, but you disagree.

At the end of the day, though, we can't afford to turn away business... as I'm sure you're aware.

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turn away (business/customers/etc.)

To "turn away" business or customers means to say "no" and not serve them or sell them things. A company might "turn away business" because they already have enough customers, because it's time for a store to close, or because they have some disagreement with certain customers.

You can use "turn away" with other words as well:

turn away gifts

turn away people

turn away advertisers

When you use "it", "them", "us", etc. with "turn away", "away" comes at the end:

We had to turn them away.

At the end of the day, (sentence)

Use this phrase to share a final opinion or decision about a topic. For example:

At the end of the day, it's not up to me. It's the department heads' call

At the end of the day, it all comes down to this: are you willing to put in the work that it takes to succeed?

"Ad the end of the day" is common in conversations about business.

(someone) can't afford to (do something)

When you say that you "can't afford" to do something, it means that it's important not to do it. For example:

This is a really important meeting. I can't afford to be late.

We can't afford to take the risk.

You can also reverse the phrase:

At these prices, you can't afford not to buy!

This means "You have to buy."

... as I'm sure you're aware.

Add this at the end of a sentence when you think your audience already knew about what you said:

Today is my last day here, as I'm sure you're aware.

You can also say this if the listener should have known something, but might not have:

It's your father's birthday today... as I'm sure you're aware.