caught up in office politics
- idiom
:
atrapado en la política de oficina
- After just a few weeks, she was caught up in office politics and felt overwhelmed by colleagues' alliances.
Examples
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Try not to become caught up in office politics, as it can drain your motivation and energy.
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Many people leave jobs because they get caught up in office politics instead of focusing on their work.
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Don't get caught up in office politics!
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She was caught up in office politics last year.
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After just a few weeks, she was caught up in office politics and felt overwhelmed by colleagues' alliances.
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Many people leave jobs because they get caught up in office politics instead of focusing on their work.
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Try not to become caught up in office politics, as it can drain your motivation and energy.
Synonyms
Deeply involved in a difficult or public dispute
Antonyms
How Involved
Surface Forms
Morphology
catch + up + in + office + politics
The expression relies on the phrasal pattern 'get/got caught up in' where the literal sense of being physically 'caught up' is metaphorically extended to becoming involved; a learner who knows 'catch', 'up', and 'in' could plausibly infer involvement but the phrasal/idiomatic use is not fully compositional. 'Office politics' itself is largely transparent as political maneuvering within an office, so the whole phrase is partially predictable but still requires exposure to the idiomatic 'caught up in' construction.
Etymology
The phrase caught up in office politics gives a picture of someone caught as if in a net and pulled into the small fights and secret deals of office politics. So it means 'to become involved' in rivalries and power games at work.