“The business end”

Definition

The knockout phase. No more dead rubbers, from here on it’s win or go home.

Origin

The business end of any tool is the part that actually does the work, the sharp end of a knife, the pointy end of a spear. Sportswriters borrowed it to mean the stage of a competition where things get serious and the stakes get real.

Used in a sentence

“The group stage is for getting through. But now we’re at the business end of the World Cup, that’s where things get serious.”