How to Use Common English Idioms A fish out of water
Hey everyone welcome to Speak English
with Tiffani. I am teacher Tiffani and
Today I want to talk to you guys about
an English idiom.
What is the idiom you may ask? Well the
idiom is, “A fish out of water”.
Yeah that’s right, “A fish out of water”.
Now this idiom sounds a little strange
right?
Why would a fish be outside of the
water? Don’t fish live in the water?
Well of course we all know that fish
live in the water. In fact, according to a
study done a few years ago, there are
thirty-one thousand three hundred
different species of fish.
Yeah, that’s a big number. And scientists
are still discovering more all the time.
However, the one thing that is true of
all these species of fish is that they
live in the water.
Goldfish live in the water. Mandarin fish
which are known to be the most beautiful
fish, live in the water. Even whale sharks
the biggest fish live in the water. So
what does this idiom mean? “A fish out of
water”?
The answer is simple. If a fish is taken
out of the water, it will become very
uncomfortable and it won’t know what to
do.
This is the meaning of this idiom. A
person or thing is completely clueless
or directionless when put into
unfamiliar surroundings or an
unfamiliar situation. For example, first
let’s meet Michael. After living in South
Korea for most of his life Michael was
like a fish out of water in America.
This means that Michael was very
uncomfortable when he went to America. He
was familiar with Korea but unfamiliar
with America.
Next let’s meet Sally. This is Sally.
She’s pretty nice.
But Sally felt like a fish out of water
when she went to college last year.
This means that Sally was very
uncomfortable when she went to college
last year because she was not familiar
with her surroundings.
Finally let’s meet Brandon. Say hi to
Brandon. He is really good at playing
basketball.
But he’s like a fish out of water when
he tries to play volleyball.
This means that Brandon is unfamiliar
with volleyball and not good at it.
Alright guys thanks so much for stopping
by and having a chat with me about the
English idiom “A fish out of water”.
I hope it helped you. I will talk to you
guys again later.
i hope this video helped to give you
more confidence in your English ability.
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