🗓️ Idiom: Swimming Upstream (v)
💬 Meaning
- Trying to achieve a difficult challenge against the odds.
- Trying something when the conditions are against you.
🧠 Example Sentences
- Launching a fresh idea in a traditional company can feel like swimming upstream.
- She was swimming upstream trying to change the decision-making process.
- We’re swimming upstream with this project during this bad economy.
🏛️ Origin
This idiom comes from the image of fish, like salmon, swimming against the current to reach their goal. In business, it represents working hard even when things are not easy.
📝 Practice Exercises
1. Fill in the blank:
They were __________ trying to convince the board to try a new strategy.
Answer
swimming upstream
2. Choose the correct meaning of “swimming upstream”:
A) Working without a plan
B) Making progress easily
C) Moving against resistance or difficulty
D) Taking a break before starting work
Answer
C) Moving against resistance or difficulty
3. Rewrite the sentence using the idiom:
“They faced many challenges while trying to introduce the new system.” → Change the sentence using: swim upstream
Answer
They were swimming upstream while trying to introduce the new system.
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