Common Italian expression
| Pronunciation | |
| Literal translation | To make a hole in the water |
| English translation | To try in vain, to fail |
| Meaning | To fail at something or to achieve no result |
Examples
| Non possiamo permetterci di fare un altro buco nell’acqua. | We cannot afford to fail again. |
| Non abbiamo venduto nemmeno un prodotto. Che buco nell’acqua! | We didn’t sell a single product. What a failure! |
Where does this idiom come from?
You can’t really poke holes in water because the surface of any liquid (superficie in Italian) will stabilize and flatten out under the force of gravity. You can try as many times as you like to punch a hole through it, but no matter how stubborn you are, you are doomed to fail. You’re basically trying in vain.
There is also a shorter version as che buco nell’acqua!, which means “what a failure!”.
Related lessons
- fare (to do)
- buco (hole)
- acqua (water)
- in (preposition)
- prepositions
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