Business Taboo: The Key Terms Game
Try describing break-even without saying costs, revenue or profit. That is the whole game, and it is much harder and much funnier than it sounds. Students end up explaining terms in their own words, which is exactly what examiners want them to do.
How to run it
Split the class into teams of 4-6. One describer sits at the front facing their team, with the cards face-down (or the teacher shows cards on their phone). The rest of the team shouts guesses. One student from a rival team stands behind the describer as the referee, watching for banned words.
The describer has 90 seconds to get through as many cards as possible. For each card they must get their team to say the term without using the term itself, any part of it, or the three banned words. Correct guess = 1 point. Banned word slip = referee buzzes, card is dead, move on.
Teams take turns, new describer each round. Play 2-3 full rotations. Keep a running score on the board. The buzzing is half the fun, so encourage referees to be dramatic about it.
Finish by asking: which cards were hardest and why? Terms that were hard to describe are the ones students only half understand. Note them on the board as revision priorities.
🖨 24 Business Taboo cards (term + 3 banned words)
| Term | Banned words |
|---|---|
| Break-even | costs, revenue, profit |
| Market share | percentage, sales, competitors |
| Franchise | brand, McDonald's, fee |
| Sole trader | owner, alone, business |
| Cash flow | money, in, out |
| Price elasticity | demand, change, sensitive |
| Economies of scale | bigger, cheaper, unit |
| Opportunity cost | choice, next, alternative |
| Brand loyalty | customers, repeat, buy |
| Dividend | shareholders, payment, profit |
| Merger | join, two, companies |
| Entrepreneur | risk, start, business |
| Market segmentation | groups, customers, split |
| USP | unique, selling, different |
| Batch production | groups, quantity, factory |
| Just-in-time | stock, delivery, warehouse |
| Gross profit | revenue, cost of sales, minus |
| Interest rate | borrowing, loan, percentage |
| Shareholder | owns, company, invest |
| Supply chain | suppliers, factory, customer |
| Product life cycle | launch, growth, decline |
| Penetration pricing | low, enter, market |
| Limited liability | owners, debts, lose |
| Trade union | workers, strike, pay |
Variations
- Reverse Taboo: the describer MUST use all three banned words in their explanation, but still cannot say the term itself.
- One-word round: after the first rotation, replay the same cards but the describer may only say ONE word as the clue.
- Student-made cards: each team writes 3 new cards for terms from the current topic and plays them against a rival team.
Teacher tips
- Read the banned words aloud to the whole class before each card so the referees and the audience are in on the tension.
- Ban gestures too, or half the class will start miming money with their fingers.
- Keep dead cards to one side and revisit them at the end. They are your diagnostic list of half-learned terms.
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