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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This has been Speak English with Teacher

Tiffani. Have an amazing day. Have a

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