"In Hot Water" Idiom Meaning, Origin & History | Superduper English Idioms
Channel: Superduper English Idioms
Date: 2021-08-15

0:00 - How to Say, “... in hot water.”
0:35 - Examples of “... in hot water.”
1:21 - Meaning of “... in hot water.”
1:38 - Origin of “... in hot water.”
4:11 - More Examples of “... in hot water.”
4:59 - Conclusion

“... in hot water.”

If someone says that you’re “in hot water”, it means that you’re in trouble, in a difficult situation, have done or said something that people will criticize or shame you for.

This idiom is very common and can be heard in all dialects of English, from Canadian and South African English to New Zealand English.

“I’m in hot water with the wife, I guess I shouldn’t have bought a new car without consulting her first,” you might be telling your friend.

Maybe you and your partner come back from a weekend trip to find that your teenagers had a wild party while you were gone, “You guys are in hot water! Look at this mess!”

“We’re gonna be in hot water today if the flour delivery doesn’t get here soon,” you might say to your employees at your bakery one morning.

As you can see, if you’re “in hot water”, you’re in a rough spot, a trying circumstance, or have opened yourself up to being disgraced or chastised.

The idiom, “in hot water”, can be found in writing as early as 1537, where it started life off as “cost me hot water”, according to Gareth Rees via StackExchange.

Gareth speculates that in the days before modern plumbing, because it was a lot of work, toilsome, laborious to procure hot water, the simple act of doing so became a metaphor for trouble, inconvenience, difficulty.

This idiom would’ve continued to gain popularity until at least 1868, when an English painter, Benjamin Waddy Maughan invented a “geyser” that heated cold water in the home.

However, it wasn’t until a Norwegian immigrant to the United States, an engineer by the name of Edwin Ruud, created a mass-market “automatic water heater” around 1889 that the common person got to enjoy in-home hot water.

Thereafter, the idiom “cost me hot water” most likely morphed into the “be in hot water” idiom that we have today.

Before the invention of the automatic water heater, preparing hot water was probably seen as an inevitable task that was part of daily life and not something that could be avoided…

… however, creativity came to the rescue and so much labour has been saved since the invention of both plumbing and then hot water plumbing.

Whatever problem you may face, there is always a solution - indeed, most likely multiple solutions - you just have to be creative, not give up, persevere and “don’t take no for an answer”.

“If we don’t figure out what to use instead of toilet paper, we’re gonna be in hot water,” your partner might say after coming back from the supermarket and finding the shelves emptied due to panic buying.

Perhaps you injured both hands while playing sports, “Uh-oh, I think we’re in hot water now… I won’t be able to work at our flower shop until my hands get better.”

“You’re in hot water now, missus! I already told you several times not to do that,” you might be punishing your six-year-old daughter for not listening to you.

So, the next time you’re facing difficulty, problems, hassles, adversity, or perhaps someone is upset, vex, unhappy with you, just say that you’re “in hot water”.

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References: https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/31709/what-is-the-origin-of-being-in-hot-water

https://www.thegentlemenplumberscalgary.com/calgary-help-origins-of-the-hot-water-heater#:~:text=The%20first%20hot%20water%20heater,into%20a%20sink%20or%20tub.