VOA · Words and Their Stories
Advanced · C1learner speed5:252024-09-19public domain
Words and Their Stories is VOA's classic program about American English expressions and idioms — where phrases like 'break the ice' come from and how to use them. Native-like idioms in slow, clear speech: a rare combination for learners.
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01And now, words and their stories from VOA Learning English.
02Swimming is a great exercise for staying healthy, but it can also be a life-saving skill and help to keep you from drowning.
03However, in some bodies of water, swimming might be difficult.
04For example, in very deep, choppy, or fast-moving water, swimming can be hard and even dangerous.
05Choppy water has many small, fast, close waves, usually created by wind.
06Water currents and tides can be very strong.
07It is easier to swim with them and not so easy to swim against them.
08On today's show, we talk about several English expressions that use swim to describe different ways to face a situation, especially danger, difficulty, or any hardship.
09Let's start with swimming in rivers.
10Let's say you jump in a river and swim downstream.
11That means you are swimming with the current of the water.
12This makes swimming easier and faster.
13So the expression, to swim downstream, means using the easy way to get something done.
14However, when you swim upstream, you have to fight the flow of the water.
15In some rivers or other bodies of water, swimming upstream is nearly impossible.
16As an expression, swimming upstream means you take a more difficult path to do something.
17You make it harder for yourself.
18Here's an example.
19Dealing with money is not my strong suit.
20In fact, last year I was drowning in debt.
21Every month when bills arrived, I felt like I was swimming upstream.
22So I went to a financial advisor.
23Now I'm free of debt and staying on a budget.
24Now if you are swimming in the ocean, sea, or other large body of water, you may be fighting the tide.
25Swimming against the tide is another expression.
26It means you are fighting against very powerful forces.
27And odds are you will not come out the winner.
28Swimming with the tide or current is much easier.
29Again, this means you have taken an easier path.
30You have chosen an easier way to do something.
31All of these expressions can be used another way.
32They can also mean that you are going with or against popular opinions or viewpoints.
33If you are swimming with the tide or current, or swimming downstream, you act the same way as the majority of others.
34You are going with the flow.
35That is another common expression.
36To go with the flow.
37People who go with the flow are easygoing.
38They take the popular path without protest.
39However, swimming upstream and swimming against the tide or current mean the opposite.
40You are rejecting a popular idea, behavior, or opinion.
41You are acting against the way the majority of people are acting.
42Swimming against the tide is harder.
43In a sense, you are an outsider or outcast.
44You do not have the support of the current or of other people.
45Here is an example.
46If all of your friends are getting married and moving to quiet areas, you may feel the urge to swim with the tide and do the same.
47Or you could swim against the tide and stay in your small apartment in the center of a busy city, with lots of bars and restaurants nearby.
48And that's all the time we have for this Words and Their Stories.
49Until next time, I'm Ana Mateo.
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