Have you ever felt like a fish out of water? Maybe you've been in
hot water recently or in deep water with your boss. Do you feel like
your relationship with the boss is like oil and water or is that more like
water off a duck's back. Let's discuss. Welcome to another Happy English podcast,
coming to you from New York City, and here's your English teacher,
Michael. Alright, thank you John, and thanks everyone. It's Michael here
from Happy English and I help people speak English better. And this is Happy
English Podcast, Episode six ninety nine. Water idioms. You know, the
English language comes from England, and since England is an island, as you
can probably imagine, a lot of the phrases and expressions we have in English
come from the sea. Today, let's have a look at six idioms that
use the word water and have a connection to the sea and water. By
the end of this podcast English lesson, you'll learn these six idioms and also
how they came to be. Let's get the ball rolling. First of all,
you can be like a fish out of water. Imagine how a fish
would feel if it was taken out of the water and put on the land.
It would probably feel very uncomfortable. And certainly out of place. With
that image in mind, if you feel like a fish out of water,
it means you are feeling uncomfortable because you are in a new or unusual situation.
By the way, you can feel like a fish out of water,
or you can be like a fish out of water. Here are some examples.
Jennifer felt like a fish out of water at the technology conference because she's
not very tech savvy after growing up in a small town. Mark felt like
a fish out of water when he moved to New York City. Susan was
like a fish out of water at the concert. It seems she prefers quiet
evenings at home. The next one is like water off a duck's back.
Ducks have waterproof feathers, so the water just slides off their back. We
use that image in the idiom like water off a duck's back to mean that
criticism or negative comments don't affect somebody. If you are not bothered by negative
comments or criticism, you can say that those comments are just like water off
of ducks back. Here are some other examples. John gets a lot of
negative comments on his YouTube channel, but for him, those comments are like
water off a ducks back as an auditor. Sarah has heard so much negativity
in her career that it's like water off of ducks. Back to her now.
The next one is like oil and water. Like oil and water,
you know if you put oil and water together, they naturally separate. We
use this image of oil and water to describe two things or people that just
don't mix well or don't get along well together. For example, mixing business
and personal relationships is just like oil and water. That's why you should never
try to date your co workers. Tom and Lisa's personalities are like oil and
water. I can't believe they are still dating these days. The relationship between
politicians is like oil and water. The next one is to be in hot
water. This idiom always reminds me of a Bugs Bunny cartoon that I saw
when I was a child. In one episode, Bugs Bunny was captured in
the jungle by natives and they put him in a big pot and started cooking
him. He was in hot water. You can imagine with that image that
he was in a lot of trouble or facing a difficult situation. And that's
exactly what this idiom means. When you are in hot water, you are
in a lot of trouble or you're facing a difficult situation. For example,
when Jerry accidentally scratched his his neighbor's car, he knew that he was in
hot water and immediately offered to pay for the repairs. After missing several deadlines
at work, Teddy found himself in hot water with the boss. Mark borrowed
money from his friend and hasn't paid it back yet, so he's definitely in
hot water now. In a similar way, you can be in deep water.
Imagine if you were in the middle of the ocean, in the middle
of the extremely deep ocean, even if you're a good swimmer, that would
be a very challenging or difficult situation. As an idiom, to be in
deep water means to be in a very challenging or very difficult situation that might
even be more than your abilities can handle. Here are some examples. After
accepting the promotion to director, Emily realized she was in deep water with her
new responsibilities. Tom found himself in deep water when the boss asked him to
complete a complex project with a tight deadline. Tommy came home drunk last night,
and now he's in deep water with his wife Finally, another way to
talk about being in unfamiliar or even uncomfortable situations is to be in uncharted waters.
In the sailing world, maps that are used on the sea are called
charts. If there is an area of the ocean where nobody has been before,
we can say that the area is uncharted, it's uncharted waters. And
as an idiom, when you are in uncharted waters, it means you are
in a situation that is unfamiliar to you and you've never dealt with that before.
Here's some examples. Starting a new business in a foreign country was like
being in uncharted waters for Steve. When they began renovating their historic house,
Dan and Amanda were in uncharted waters. It's their first time to do that
kind of work. When Jim moved from his office job to owning a cafe,
he found himself in uncharted waters. Keep in mind, the best way
to remember this or any English point is to take the word or phrase,
write it in a sentence that's true for you or true in your world,
and then memorize your sentences. Well, that's all the time and water we
have for today's English lesson. By the way, if you'd like to get
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To learn more or to see some of the example sentences from this lesson,
just visit Myhappy English dot com and choose podcast lesson six ninety nine. Remember,
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