Have you ever watched pirate movies? If so, you must be familiar with the famous “walk the plank.” In this method of execution, pirates forced a person to walk on a plank, heading out to sea.
The poor guy had two options: sink or swim. Unfortunately, that used to be the end of the person, but now you can understand the meaning of our expression today, right?
Sink or swim indicates that the person needs to give it their all in a moment where it’s all or nothing ─ they will either fail or succeed, with no middle ground.
There are several ways to translate sink or swim . Some of them are “to kill or die” , “to risk defeat” or “to give one’s blood” . In the case of leave to sink or swim , we can translate it as “to abandon oneself to one’s fate” .
How about we look at some sentences with sink or swim ? Then, add this expression to your Anki !
1 – Let’s start with sink or swim meaning “kill or be killed”:
In
this job, it’s sink or swim .
When we started the business, it was sink or swim .
Now that we’ve bought the farm, we’ll have to make a go of it ─ it ‘s sink or swim .
In such a competitive business, it ‘s always sink or swim for new companies looking to enter the market.
2 – Now look at sentences with the translation “risk a defeat”:
Personally, I’d rather sink or swim than do nothing at all.
Personally, I’d rather risk defeat than do nothing at all.
After I
‘ve studied and learned all I can, I have to take the test and sink or swim .
It’s better to try something and sink or swim then to wait around worrying about what will happen.
It ‘s better to try something and risk failure than to wait around and worry about what will happen. (Read the post Wait Around | What does this phrasal verb mean?)
We persuaded our son to enter a
tennis tournament and just let himself sink or swim .
3 – Another possible translation of sink or swim is “to give blood”:
People often find out just how strong they are when they’re forced to sink or swim .
The teacher expects you to have all the background material already learned , so you’ll have to sink or swim the moment you start the course. The teacher expects you to have all the background material already learned, so you’ll have to sink or swim the moment you start the course.
On the first
day, before any training, we give the interns a project to see if they will sink or swim . Most fail, but we are more interested in their attitude during the process .
I’ve been training for a marathon for the past six months and the time has finally come to sink or swim .
I’ve been training for a marathon for the past six months and the time has finally come to give it my all .
4 – Finally, leave to sink or swim means “to abandon oneself to one’s own fate”:
My employer gave me no help when I started my new job ─ I was just left to sink or swim .
After three years of
teaching and support at music college, musicians are left to sink or swim in the profession.
The government refused to give the company any help , and just left it to sink or swim .
Now you know what sink or swim means ! Also, take the opportunity to learn another way to say “abandonar a sua vida” by reading the article about Leave To Own Devices . See you next time!
