These Swimming Idioms Won't be 'Out of Your Depth'

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Materials Daily News

Intermediate

Exercise 1

Vocabulary

depth

Noun

dɛpθ

the distance from the top to the bottom or a lower point within something

The marker measures the depth of the river.

Scuba divers can swim to deep depths.

challenge

Noun

ˈtʃælɪndʒ

a task or situation that is very difficult or requires a lot of skill

Getting straight As is a big challenge for any student.

Working with him is a big challenge.

We are facing a big challenge in the consumer market.

Traveling in foreign countries can be a challenge.

training

Noun

ˈtreɪniːŋ

the action of teaching a person or animal a skill, behavior, etc.; the action of preparing for a sports event

All of our new employees go through training.

She is about to begin her training.

progress

Noun

ˈprɑːgrɛs

the process of developing, improving, etc.

She is making good progress with her recovery.

Repair work is in progress.

I'm still waiting to hear a progress update.

We have to report our progress to our professor once a week.

refer

Verb

rɪˈfɜːr

to describe or denote

The city of Johannesburg is sometimes referred to as "the gateway to Africa."

Exercise 2

Article

AI Generated Audio––:–– / ––:––

These Swimming Idioms Won't be 'Out of Your Depth'

Swimming isn't just a good way to stay healthy, it's also where English gets some great expressions for talking about challenges. Here are some examples.

If you find yourself in a difficult situation where you may not have the skills you need, you could say you've been "thrown in the deep end." This refers to the "deep end" of a pool, which you should only go in if you know how to swim.

For example, if you got a difficult new job but weren't given any training, you could say "My boss really threw me in the deep end, I don’t know what I'm doing!"

Sometimes when you've been thrown in the deep end, you end up "out of your depth," like a person in water that's over their head. This means that you are in a situation where you can't do the things that are asked of you.

So if you told your boss you didn't know what you were doing in your job, they might say "It sounds like you're out of your depth – maybe this job isn't for you."

If your boss says that maybe you should go back to your old job, you might tell him that doing so would feel like "treading water." When a swimmer "treads water," they move their hands and feet just enough to keep their head above water but don't go anywhere. So "treading water" means to stay where you are and not make any progress.

So you could say to your boss "I don't want to tread water, please just give me some extra training."

Exercise 3

Discussion

Have you heard any of the expressions in the article before? Please explain your answer.

Are you a good swimmer? If so, when did you learn how to swim? If not, would you like to be?

Have you ever been thrown in the deep end? Please share your story.

When was the last time you felt like you were out of your depth? Please explain your answer.

Do you know of any swimming-related expressions in your language? If so, please share them.

Exercise 4

Further Discussion

What water sports would you like to try someday? Why?

Are there any beaches near where you live? If so, how often do you visit them?

Are there many lakes or rivers in your town or city? If so, do people often swim in them?

Are children in your country taught how to swim in school? Please explain your answer.

Swimming is as close to flying as we can get. – Unknown. What do you make of this statement?

Source

This lesson is based on an article by H.J. Meech.