English in a Minute: Phrases with 'water'
Learning English Vocabulary
BBC
4.5 • 523 Ratings
🗓️ 11 March 2026
⏱️ 1 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Do you hate it when people pour water on your ideas, or is it like water off a duck's back? Learn these 'water' phrases and more here.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:06.0 | You're listening to BBC LearningEnglish.com. |
| 0:10.7 | Let's learn four phrases with water. |
| 0:16.6 | A fish out of water is someone who feels uncomfortable in an unfamiliar situation. |
| 0:23.5 | I always feel like such a fish out of water at parties. I hate them. Testing the water is when |
| 0:30.2 | you try to find out what people think of something before you do it. I think you need to test the |
| 0:36.2 | water before suggesting this plan. I'm not sure |
| 0:39.1 | people will like it. If people don't like your idea, they might pour cold water on it, be negative |
| 0:46.1 | about it. It's only ever my plans you pour cold water on. I don't think you're being fair. |
| 0:51.7 | An insult or criticism that doesn't bother you is like water off a duck's back. |
| 0:58.1 | It just runs off. |
| 0:59.8 | They had harsh words for him, but he's used to much worse, so it was like water off a duck's back. |
| 1:06.5 | I don't need to test the water. |
| 1:08.8 | I know these phrases are great. |
| 1:11.4 | Learn them now. |
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