Question

Sink or Swim to fail or succeed by one's own efforts without anyone's help or interference

Accepted Answer

I moved to a faraway city and had to sink or swim without my parent's help. If you fail at learning to swim, you'll sink, of course. If you succeed, you'll swim. A related idiom for managing to succeed is to "keep your head above water" (see page 104). There was also a cruel and bizarre old-time practice of throwing a person suspected of being a witch into deep water. The accused were usually women. If the woman sank (and drowned), she was innocent. If she floated, then the devil must have helped her and she was guilty. Geoffrey Chaucer, an English poet, used the phrase "float or sink" in his writings in the 1300s.

Idiom	Sink or Swim
Example	I moved to a faraway city and had to sink or swim without my parent's help.
Meaning	to fail or succeed by one's own efforts without anyone's help or interference
Origin	If you fail at learning to swim, you'll sink, of course. If you succeed, you'll swim. A related idiom for managing to succeed is to "keep your head above water" (see page 104). There was also a cruel and bizarre old-time practice of throwing a person suspected of being a witch into deep water. The accused were usually women. If the woman sank (and drowned), she was innocent. If she floated, then the devil must have helped her and she was guilty. Geoffrey Chaucer, an English poet, used the phrase "float or sink" in his writings in the 1300s.

Sink Swim Fail Succeed I Moved Faraway City