Apr 29, 2003 08:39
21 yrs ago
2 viewers *
English term
Bonding thru Words
Native in: Spanish 
Works in: English to Spanish, French to Spanish, Danish to Spanish, and 2 more.
bath of hot water
English
Other
Depending on the eye of the beholder a bath of hot water may be half-full or half-empty; I compare the changes proposed by the rapporteur, with cross-party support, as representing very much the half-full option.
What puzzles me here is the usage of bath? The saying usually goes with a glass, right? Is this a usual expression? It doesn't look like it and I haven't found it surfing in the net. Thanks beforehand.
What puzzles me here is the usage of bath? The saying usually goes with a glass, right? Is this a usual expression? It doesn't look like it and I haven't found it surfing in the net. Thanks beforehand.
Responses
| 4 +2 | too land in hot water |
wendyzee (X)
|
| 4 +6 | The glass is half full |
Thomaso
|
| 4 +3 | Not usual |
IanW (X)
|
| 3 +3 | to put someone in hot water? |
Klaus Herrmann
|
| 4 | glass, cup, heart, |
jerrie
|
Responses
+2
31 mins
Selected
too land in hot water
This is a common expression indicating trouble. It seems to me that 2 expressions have been combined here - Whereas seeing a half full glass would indicate optimism, a half-full bath of hot water seems to indicate a pessimistic view of the amount of trouble(problems) likely to occur.
All in all, a bath of hot water is not a common expression
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Note added at 2003-04-29 09:12:38 (GMT)
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sorry - to* not too
All in all, a bath of hot water is not a common expression
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Note added at 2003-04-29 09:12:38 (GMT)
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sorry - to* not too
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
+3
3 mins
Not usual
Hi there - you're right, it's not a normal expression and I can only imagine that it refers to a mention of baths somewhere else in the text. Or that the author is a "clean-living" person who doesn't drink ...
+6
5 mins
The glass is half full
is a very common expression is some parts of the English speaking world but it can be applied to pretty much anything - commonly hear "bottle is half full" so why not the bath but this is the first time I've heard it!
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&...
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&...
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
J. Leo (X)
2 mins
|
| agree |
Tony M
: I reckon the person was just trying to make it sound 'bigger', as might befit a political issue :-)
9 mins
|
| agree |
Empty Whiskey Glass
2 hrs
|
| agree |
Libero_Lang_Lab
: i reckon this is a non-native english speaker trying to be idiomatic and not quite succeeding
3 hrs
|
| agree |
Nancy Arrowsmith
: maybe there was some talk about getting rid of the baby with the bath water?
5 hrs
|
| agree |
DGK T-I
: don't you think it has the ring of a jovial after dinner speech to a 'contented' audience- it reminds me of the style of some of Sir.Robin Day's in his memoir,"Speaking for myself".
8 hrs
|
8 mins
glass, cup, heart,
I found hits for glass, cup and heart...plus a generalisation:
"While we may argue about something being half full or half empty, we wish the Government to take a different approach."
Glass is the most common usage.
Maybe the context before prompts the use of 'bath'...
The 'half full/half empty' analogy is very versatile :- )
(Maybe they meant a pan of boiling water...a contentious issue...out of the frying pan into the fire...an issue where one might get 'burnt')
"While we may argue about something being half full or half empty, we wish the Government to take a different approach."
Glass is the most common usage.
Maybe the context before prompts the use of 'bath'...
The 'half full/half empty' analogy is very versatile :- )
(Maybe they meant a pan of boiling water...a contentious issue...out of the frying pan into the fire...an issue where one might get 'burnt')
+3
11 mins
Klaus Herrmann
Germany
Germany
Germany
Best TCO in Technical Translations
Native in: German 
Works in: English to German, German
Related KudoZ points
:
147
to put someone in hot water?
To put s/o in hot water means to cause problems or an unpleasant situation. Would this make any sense in your context, as in "these changes will cause tons of problems"?
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Marie Scarano
: I also thought of this possibility. Perhaps in the general context it would make sense. That a bath in "hot water" can be a positive or negative experience, depending on if you learn a lesson from it or not.
52 mins
|
| agree |
DGK T-I
: that's what I thought. Mention of the 'rapporteur'&'cross party support' suggests we are alluding to a political situation(where people are often "in hot water",ie: in troublesome situations!) -writer/speaker being creative
3 hrs
|
| agree |
Bin Zhang
7 days
|
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