1 00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:06,200 Are you determined to do anything, come hell or high water. Are you 2 00:00:06,280 --> 00:00:11,480 able to keep your head above water these days? Is there anything you want 3 00:00:11,560 --> 00:00:17,559 to try and test the waters? Has anyone told you a story that couldn't 4 00:00:17,600 --> 00:00:27,359 hold water? Let's discuss Welcome to another Happy English podcast, coming to you 5 00:00:27,440 --> 00:00:32,920 from New York City. And here's your English teacher, Michael. All right, 6 00:00:33,240 --> 00:00:38,200 thank you John, and thanks everyone. It's Michael here from Happy English 7 00:00:38,240 --> 00:00:45,439 and I help people speak English better. And this is Happy English Podcast Episode 8 00:00:45,479 --> 00:00:53,240 seven hundred, Part two, Water Idioms seven hundred. You know, I 9 00:00:53,479 --> 00:01:00,520 started the Happy English Podcast in twenty fourteen and in almost ten years I put 10 00:01:00,560 --> 00:01:07,159 out seven hundred episodes, which means seven hundred English lessons. That's quite a 11 00:01:07,200 --> 00:01:11,400 milestone for me. And I would just like to take a moment to say 12 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:19,239 thank you so much for listening to this podcast. Whether you're a first time 13 00:01:19,359 --> 00:01:25,680 listener or a longtime listener, I really appreciate all of your support. Thank 14 00:01:25,719 --> 00:01:30,560 you so much. Today we're going to look at five more idioms that use 15 00:01:30,599 --> 00:01:37,159 the word water and have a connection to the sea and water. By the 16 00:01:37,280 --> 00:01:41,959 end of this podcast lesson, you'll not only learn these idioms, but you'll 17 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:48,079 also find out how they came to be. Let's dive in the first one 18 00:01:48,200 --> 00:01:55,040 is come hell or high water. If hell or a flood came to your 19 00:01:55,120 --> 00:02:00,920 place, it would be a huge difficulty or an obstacle that could prevent you 20 00:02:00,959 --> 00:02:06,680 from doing what you want to do. But you are strong and determined, 21 00:02:07,239 --> 00:02:12,520 come hell or high water, you are going to do it. Come hell 22 00:02:12,599 --> 00:02:19,719 or high water means even if hell or a flood with high water came, 23 00:02:20,520 --> 00:02:25,400 you are totally determined to do what you want to do and nothing will stop 24 00:02:25,439 --> 00:02:31,000 you. Come hell or high water. Here are some other examples. Linda 25 00:02:31,039 --> 00:02:37,080 was determined to finish her college degree, Come hell or high water, even 26 00:02:37,159 --> 00:02:42,960 though she had a full time job and had two small kids. John called 27 00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:47,240 the office and despite the storm outside, he's coming to the meeting this afternoon, 28 00:02:47,360 --> 00:02:53,719 Come hell or high water. Speaking of difficult situations, if you were 29 00:02:53,840 --> 00:02:58,439 in the ocean and there were a lot of high waves, that's a difficult 30 00:02:58,479 --> 00:03:04,039 situation. It may be hard to keep your head above water. When you 31 00:03:04,159 --> 00:03:08,120 need to manage a difficult situation, or when you have a lot of issues, 32 00:03:08,240 --> 00:03:14,400 problems, or responsibilities, you need to keep your head above water. 33 00:03:14,759 --> 00:03:20,759 In other words, you need to manage that situation. For example, after 34 00:03:20,840 --> 00:03:23,719 losing his job, Mark had to find a way to keep his head above 35 00:03:23,759 --> 00:03:29,639 water and pay his bills, so he decided to start driving an uber. 36 00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:36,719 Maria managed to keep her head above water running her small pizza restaurant during the 37 00:03:36,800 --> 00:03:42,719 pandemic. In the previous example, I mentioned that Maria has a small pizza 38 00:03:42,840 --> 00:03:49,840 restaurant. She opened a small place just to test the waters. When you 39 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:54,280 try something out just to see how it goes before fully committing to it, 40 00:03:54,719 --> 00:04:00,479 you test the waters just like you would dip your food put into the pool 41 00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:05,599 to see how the water is. You test the waters. Here are some 42 00:04:05,719 --> 00:04:12,800 examples. Before investing all his savings, Peter decided to test the waters in 43 00:04:12,840 --> 00:04:16,920 the stock market with a small amount of money. Sarah wanted to see if 44 00:04:16,920 --> 00:04:24,040 she enjoyed teaching, so she volunteered as a substitute teacher to test the waters 45 00:04:24,399 --> 00:04:30,519 before pursuing a teaching career. If you had a bucket that had a few 46 00:04:30,600 --> 00:04:34,240 holes in it, it wouldn't be able to hold any water, right, 47 00:04:34,920 --> 00:04:40,879 it's not good enough to hold water. Well. With that image, if 48 00:04:40,920 --> 00:04:46,720 somebody tells you something and it doesn't seem true, you could say that it 49 00:04:46,839 --> 00:04:51,639 doesn't hold water. It doesn't hold water means that the story you heard is 50 00:04:53,199 --> 00:05:00,800 doubtful or perhaps just not true. For example, Mark sixskis use for being 51 00:05:00,839 --> 00:05:04,480 laid again just doesn't hold water. I think we need to issue him a 52 00:05:04,519 --> 00:05:11,879 warning. Karen's story about meeting Taylor Swift to the deli just doesn't hold water. 53 00:05:12,680 --> 00:05:16,879 I doubt she's drinking coffee in a deli in the city on a Sunday 54 00:05:16,920 --> 00:05:23,680 morning. Have you ever ordered a drink in a bar or a restaurant and 55 00:05:23,759 --> 00:05:30,720 a taste seems weaker than usual, Well, it's possible that someone added a 56 00:05:30,759 --> 00:05:35,480 little water to your drink that would make it taste weak and also save the 57 00:05:35,519 --> 00:05:41,879 bar money. They add water and the flavor goes down. In other words, 58 00:05:42,480 --> 00:05:47,680 they water it down. You can use water down as a verb or 59 00:05:48,639 --> 00:05:56,079 watered down with a hyphen as an adjective. Here are some other examples. 60 00:05:56,720 --> 00:06:00,360 There's a cheap bar down the street from the office that serves water down beer. 61 00:06:01,079 --> 00:06:08,040 The coffee in this diner tastes like it's been watered down. Keep in 62 00:06:08,079 --> 00:06:13,199 mind, the best way to remember this or any English point is to take 63 00:06:13,240 --> 00:06:16,839 the word or phrase write it in a sentence that's true for you. Or 64 00:06:17,439 --> 00:06:24,600 true in your world and then memorize your sentences. Well that's it for today's 65 00:06:24,639 --> 00:06:30,040 English lesson, come hell or high water. I'll be back with another lesson 66 00:06:30,560 --> 00:06:34,480 next week. By the way, if you'd like to get more practice using 67 00:06:34,560 --> 00:06:41,639 your English, you need to join my podcast Learners study group. There you 68 00:06:41,680 --> 00:06:46,279 can make new international friends, join me for live group coaching every week. 69 00:06:46,639 --> 00:06:54,079 Plus get the pdf, transcript and audio download for every Happy English podcast in 70 00:06:54,120 --> 00:07:00,279 the past and in the future. And each episode has exercise where you can 71 00:07:00,360 --> 00:07:06,000 practice this English point with speaking and writing checked by me. To learn more 72 00:07:06,399 --> 00:07:12,000 or to see some of the example sentences from this lesson, just visit my 73 00:07:12,199 --> 00:07:18,680 Happy English dot com and choose podcast lesson seven hundred. Remember, learning another 74 00:07:18,800 --> 00:07:24,240 language is not easy, but it's not impossible, and I'm here to help 75 00:07:24,319 --> 00:07:29,959 you on your journey. This podcast is brought to you by Happy English. 76 00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:35,040 Please visit Myhappy English dot com show your support for Happy English by leaving us 77 00:07:35,040 --> 00:07:51,480 a review. Get English, Get Happy, Happy English.