Forum: ell.stackexchange.com
Tags: <idiom-request>
Title: Is there an idiom that means that you are in a very strong negotiation position in a negotiation?
Question: Is there an idiom that means that you are in a very strong negotiation position in a negotiation? If there's no such idiom can you think of an idiom that means that you are in a stronger position than someone or something else? I am thinking of using the word in an essay on the U.S.-China trade war.

Answers:
sents: text: I suggest "having the upper hand".
text: Oxford defines this as: have (or gain)
text: the upper hand ( phrase ) Have or gain advantage or control over someone or something. and provides this example sentence: Just when Claudius thinks he controls Hamlet, it is really Hamlet who has the upper hand over Claudius .
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/95769/Thomas Hirsch
score: 76
sents: text: "To hold all the aces" means having overwhelming advantage, the metaphor coming from bridge or pretty much any card game.
text: Re a previous contribution: "an ace up one's sleeve" means more of having a secret weapon rather then being in an advantageous situation.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/95767/Sam G
score: 34
sents: text: To "have {someone} over a barrel" is such an idiom.
text: You might also want to look at idioms for the weaker side's negotiating position.
text: These often involve two bad choices.
text: For example, "between a rock and a hard place"
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/9100/Jasper
score: 22
sents: text: Another possible choice is "in the driver's seat", meaning that the person so described is able to direct the outcome.
text: Collins says: in the driver's seat ( phrase ) If you say that someone is in the driver's seat, you mean that they are in control in a situation.
text: Now he knows he's in the driver's seat and can wait for a better deal .
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/95774/SoronelHaetir
score: 18
sents: text: A colorful phrase is in the catbird seat , defined as "in a superior or advantageous position".
text: A vulgar alternative is mentioned in this question .
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/57779/nanoman
score: 8
sents: text: If you want to use a rather informal idiom that has had some recent usage, you could use I have the high ground Referring to the military advantage you get from an elevated position, from having the high ground .
text: This has recently been used in a scene from Star wars Episode III , in which Obi Wan asks Anakin Skywalker to give up, as he has a superior fighting position.
text: Source: Urban dictionary google ngram viewer suggests, that this has been around for a while, at least in writing (which is hardly surprising, as user rubenvb suggested - thanks for that)
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/63701/glissi
score: 7
sents: text: If you are able to determine who is selling product to whom, and who is most capable of setting the price at which goods are traded, then you can refer to it as either a buyer's market or a seller's market .
text: This refers to who has the upper hand in negotiations.
text: In a seller's market, this means that you (the seller) are only one of few vendors of a given product, and the customers' demands are high enough that you know you'll always sell your good, and therefore are able to charge whatever you want.
text: Even if some customers are unwilling to pay your price, there will be enough customers/demand that you will sell your products.
text: If I charge $1000 per glass of water, and I put my stand in the Sahara desert, then I do so because I know that water is a seller's market in the otherwise dry desert.
text: Customers will have to buy from me and they have no position to refuse my price if they need the water.
text: In a buyer's market, there are a lot of vendors of the same product, and there is not much demand for the product.
text: If a customer does not buy your product, they will go to another vendor, leaving you with unsold products.
text: This means that the buyer can dictate what they will buy and what they won't buy, and sellers are racing each other in order to steal each other's business.
text: If a buyer is more inclined to buy from an airconditioned shop, that means that in a buyer's market, the sellers are strongly incentivized to aircondition their shops just to ensure that they can get the customers they need.
text: Think of it as two market vendors who keep having to lower their prices just to make sure that the customers come to them instead of their competitor.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/22884/Flater
score: 5
sents: text: Leverage
text: While not necessarily an idiom, “
text: having/holding leverage ” is a good description of negotiations where one side has more power or advantage than another.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/25285/CodeGnome
score: 4
sents: text: If you are in a stronger position in a negotiation, consider the idiom: have an ace up your sleeve
text: For example: I'm well prepared for the negotiations.
text: I've got an ace up my sleeve.
text: Source:
text: Learn English Today
text: negotiation idioms
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/3223/Lucian Sava
score: 2
sents: text: heheh, Australian chiming in.
text: We* have an expression:
text: To have him by the short and curlies .
text: Collins states: to have someone completely in one's power.
text: I'll leave it to you to work out what 'short & curlies' are, but as a hint, it refers to hair.
text: *
text: Though it's origin is probably from the UK
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/89/mcalex
score: 2
sents: text: Quite simply, to "have the advantage", as in They have the advantage in the negotiations
text: This is distinct from "have an advantage.
text: " Having an advantage means you have some sort of asset or quality which will help you.
text: Having the advantage means you are already in control of the situation.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/24591/Artelius
score: 1

Summary of the answers:
 I suggest "having the upper hand".  Having/holding  leverage ” is a good description of negotiations where one side has more power or advantage than another. Alternatively, having  the  advantage means you are already in control of the situation.
“Having the upper hand", "holding all the aces, "having the advantage" "having someone by the short and curlies", "having an ace up your sleeve", "having/holding leverage", "being in the driver’s seat", "having someone over a barrel", "having the high ground" and "being in a superior or advantageous position" are all possibilities.