VOA词汇掌故2024--How to Use "Swimming" to Deal with Life's Situations

And now, Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning¹ English.

Swimming is a great exercise for staying healthy. But it can also be a life saving² skill and help to keep you from drowning.

However, in some bodies of water, swimming might be difficult. For example, in very deep, choppy or fast moving water swimming can be hard and even dangerous.

Choppy water has many small, fast, close waves usually created by wind.

Water currents and tides can be very strong. It is easier to swim with them and not so easy to swim against them.

On 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.

Let's start with swimming in rivers. Let's say you jump in a river and swim downstream. That means you are swimming with the current of the water. This makes swimming easier and faster.

So, the expression to swim downstream means using the easy way to get something done.

However, when you swim upstream, you have to fight the flow of the water. In some rivers or other bodies of water, swimming upstream is nearly impossible.

As an expression, swimming upstream means you take a more difficult path to do something. You make it harder for yourself.

Here's an example:

Dealing³ with money is not my strong suit. In fact, last year I was drowning in debt. Every month when bills arrived, I felt like I was swimming upstream. So I went to a financial advisor⁴. Now I'm free of debt and staying on a budget.

Now, if you are swimming in the ocean, sea, or other large body of water, you may be fighting the tide. Swimming against the tide is another expression. It means you are fighting against very powerful forces. And odds⁵ are you will not come out the winner.

Swimming with the tide or current, is much easier. Again, this means you have taken an easier path. You have chosen an easier way to do something.

All of these expressions can be used another way. They can also mean that you are going with or against popular opinions or viewpoints⁶.

If you are swimming with the tide or current or swimming downstream, you act the same way as the majority of others. You are going with the flow. That is another common expression - to go with the flow. People who go with the flow are easy-going. They take the popular path without protest⁷.

However, swimming upstream and swimming against the tide or current mean the opposite. You are rejecting a popular idea, behavior, or opinion. You are acting⁸ against the way the majority of people are acting.

Swimming against the tide is harder. In a sense, you are an outsider or outcast. You do not have the support of the current or of other people.

Here is an example. If 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. Or 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.

And that's all the time we have for this Words and Their Stories. Until next time ... I'm Anna Matteo.

Words in This Story

drown -v. to suffocate⁹ in a liquid and especially in water :

choppy -adj. rough with small waves

tide -n. the alternate¹⁰ rising and falling of the surface of the ocean that occurs twice a day and is caused by the gravitational attraction of the sun and moon occurring unequally on different parts of the earth

strong suit -n. something in which one excels¹¹

opposite -adj. being the other of a matching or contrasting pair : being in a position to oppose or cancel out

outsider -n. a person who does not belong to a particular group

outcast -n. one that is cast out or refused acceptance (as by society)

1 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

2 saving   

n.节省，节约；[pl.]储蓄金，存款

参考例句：

• Energy saving is term strategic policy of our country.节约能源是我国长期的战略国策。
• Old-fashioned housewives were usually very saving.旧时的家庭主妇通常都很节俭。

3 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

4 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

5 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

6 viewpoints   

观点，意见，角度( viewpoint的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• In any case, separation of the two viewpoints is mandatory. 无论如何，把这两种观点分开是必不可少的。
• The two viewpoints are complementary and both approaches are of interest. 这两种方法是互为补充的而且都是有价值的。

7 protest   

v.反对，抗议；宣称；n.抗议；宣称

参考例句：

• I can't pass the matter by without a protest.我不能对此事视而不见，我要提出抗议。
• We translated his silence as a protest.我们把他的沉默解释为抗议。

8 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

9 suffocate   

vt.使窒息，使缺氧，阻碍；vi.窒息，窒息而亡，阻碍发展

参考例句：

• If you shut all the windows,I will suffocate.如果你把窗户全部关起来，我就会闷死。
• The stale air made us suffocate.浑浊的空气使我们感到窒息。

10 alternate   

adj.交替的，间隔的；v.（使）轮流　　

参考例句：

• He and I clean our room on alternate days.我和他隔日轮流打扫我们的房间。
• That was a week of alternate rain and sunshine.那是晴雨天交替的一周。

11 excels   

优于，擅长( excel的第三人称单数 )； 胜过平时

参考例句：

• He excels as an orator. 他是一个出色的演说家。
• He excels in multiple-choice questions. 他擅长做选择题。