[ti:Water Expressions] [ar:Rich Kleinfeldt] [al:WORDS AND THEIR STORIES] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]Go to 51voa.com for more... [00:10.66]Now, the VOA [00:13.24]Special English program [00:14.79]WORDS AND THEIR STORIES. [00:17.72]Expressions about water [00:20.02]are almost as common [00:22.33]as water itself. [00:23.74]But many of the expressions [00:25.97]using water [00:27.31]have unpleasant meanings. [00:29.51]The expression [00:31.60]"to be in hot water" [00:33.59]is one of them. [00:34.87]It is a very old expression. [00:37.32]"Hot water" was used [00:40.42]five-hundred years ago [00:42.36]to mean being in trouble. [00:44.80]One story says it got [00:48.28]that meaning from the custom [00:50.47]of throwing extremely hot water [00:53.01]down on enemies [00:54.66]attacking a castle. [00:56.35]That no longer happens. [00:58.89]But we still get in "hot water." [01:01.73]When we are in "hot water," [01:04.86]we are in trouble. [01:06.01]It can be any kind of trouble [01:09.40]-- serious or not so serious. [01:12.14]A person who breaks a law [01:15.52]can be in hot water [01:17.41]with the police. [01:18.86]A young boy can be [01:21.53]in hot water with his mother, [01:23.44]if he walks in the house [01:25.24]with dirty shoes. [01:26.92]Being in "deep water" is almost [01:31.46]the same as being in hot water. [01:33.84]When you are in deep water, [01:36.12]you are in a difficult position. [01:39.39]Imagine a person [01:41.38]who cannot swim being thrown [01:44.42]in water over his head. [01:46.41]You are in deep water [01:49.50]when you are facing a problem [01:51.74]that you do not have [01:53.38]the ability to solve. [01:54.93]You can be in deep water, [01:58.71]for example, if you invest [02:00.81]in stocks without knowing [02:02.76]anything about the stock market. [02:05.05]"To keep your head above water" [02:08.93]is a colorful expression that [02:11.42]means staying out of debt. [02:13.28]A company seeks to keep [02:16.17]its head above water [02:17.61]during economic hard times. [02:20.15]A man who loses his job [02:23.26]tries to keep his head [02:25.60]above water [02:26.39]until he finds a new job. [02:28.86]"Water over the dam" [02:32.09]is another expression [02:33.88]about a past event. [02:35.55]It is something [02:37.73]that is finished. [02:38.64]It cannot be changed. [02:40.27]The expression comes [02:43.07]from the idea that water [02:45.00]that has flowed over a dam [02:46.87]cannot be brought back again. [02:49.36]When a friend is troubled [02:52.20]by a mistake she has made, [02:54.19]you might tell her [02:55.73]to forget about it. [02:56.93]You say it is water over the dam. [03:00.36]Another common expression, [03:03.75]"to hold water," [03:05.29]is about the strength [03:07.23]or weakness of an idea [03:09.53]or opinion that you [03:11.52]may be arguing about. [03:13.12]It probably comes from a way [03:15.81]of testing the condition [03:17.41]of a container. [03:18.77]If it can hold water, [03:21.52]it is strong [03:22.69]and has no holes in it. [03:25.16]If your argument [03:27.21]can hold water, it is strong [03:29.95]and does not have any holes. [03:32.45]If it does not hold water, [03:35.01]then it is weak [03:37.30]and not worth debating. [03:39.34]"Throwing cold water" [03:42.61]also is an expression [03:44.51]that deals with ideas [03:46.06]or proposals. [03:47.75]It means to not like an idea. [03:50.73]For example, you want [03:54.37]to buy a new car [03:55.61]because the old one [03:57.41]has some problems. [03:59.01]But your wife [04:00.86]"throws cold water" [04:02.91]on the idea because she says [04:05.59]a new car costs too much. [04:08.63](MUSIC) [04:18.94]This VOA Special English program, [04:25.06]WORDS AND THEIR STORIES, [04:26.75]was written by Marilyn Christiano. [04:29.84]I'm Rich Kleinfeldt.