Transcript of AE 1008 - Expression - In the Same Boat

G'day, you mob, and welcome to Aussie English. I am your host, Pete, and my objective here is to teach you guys the English spoken down under. So, whether you want to sound like a fair dinkum Aussie or you just want to understand what the flipping hell we're on about when we're having a yarn, you've come to the right place. So, sit back, grab a cuppa and enjoy Aussie English. Let's go.

G'day, you mob. How's it going? Welcome to this episode of Aussie English, the number one place for anyone and everyone wanting to learn Australian English. It's great to have you here, guys. If it is your first time, thank you so much for joining me. I hope you enjoy the podcast and all of my courses and other content because it's specially designed to help you level up your Australian English.

If you are a return listener or viewer, thank you, too, for coming back. It's always good to see friendly faces. So, guys, before we get into today's episode, don't forget if you would like access to all of the transcripts, the video lessons, the downloads, the MP3s, for all of the podcast material with all of the bonus material. Be sure to sign up to the Premium podcast membership.

This is where you'll get access to, in particular, the video lessons for these expression episodes. So, you'll get to see vocabulary come up on screen, you'll get to see images and videos that describe and show what I'm talking about, and you'll get all of the other bonus episodes too. So, if you want to check that out, go to AussieEnglish.com.au/podcast. Oh, so it has been a bit of an interesting day.

Noah is off at Day-Care currently, probably for the next hour until I have to nick off down to day-care and pick him up. My wife and my daughter and I just nicked down to- Just popped down to Kmart in Leopold nearby, so that we could stock up on a few things that we needed for the kids. We had to get some clothes, we've had to buy a whole bunch of art stuff.

My wife's been getting into a lot of artsy-fartsy kind of stuff to distract Noah, to sort of entertain Noah. Because he's very- He needs a lot of attention. He's gotten to that age now where he just he's turned on all the time. So, we went down to Kmart and did that, and we also had to get one of those children gates that you can kind of screw into the walls, right.

You sort of have these things that you unscrew on either side of the gate, and it puts pressure onto the walls so that it's like a fence with a door in it, a gate in it. And we've just put that in front of his bedroom door because we want to move him out of his cot and into his bed. He has a little bunk bed in his room that we've had for about a year now, anticipating this moment where he would move into a bed, and it is a kombi van that we have.

So, it's a cute little bunk bed that looks like a kombi van, but he absolutely loves sitting in there at night. We sit in there and read books to him before he goes to bed in the cot, but now that he's almost big enough to jump out of the cot, we just thought, stuff it, we'll put him into the kombi van bunk bed, but we need a door on the front to prevent him.

He knows how to open the doors and get out of his room, so we don't want him just running around the house in the morning when we're asleep or maybe in the middle of the night because he could hurt himself. So, we had to go down to Kmart, buy one of these metal doors and install it. Anyway, that's what I've been up to. So, let's get into today's news story.

A man in his 80s was caught with his pants down this week whilst out fishing in his tinny 11 kilometres from shore on Lake Wellington in eastern Victoria. What Bob Thatcher had hoped would be a calm and relaxing day out fishing took a turn for the worst when he suddenly discovered a metre long problem between him and the boat's anchor.

A tiger snake, one of Australia's most venomous snakes, had curled up beside the anchor, probably holding on for dear life as the boat left shore. Bob saw the forked tongue flicking at him and screamed out a few expletives before he found his calm. He decided the only course of action was to toss his jacket over the animal and drive the 30-minute journey back to shore.

After a good half hour of banging on the boat to scare the snake out, Bob and friends managed to grab its head with some tongs and whacked it into a bag. They then released it back into the wild near Lake Wellington, where the snake turned tail and ran, well slithered, likely to never be seen again. So, there you go, guys.

I mean, what would you do if you were out at sea or in a boat? And it was a small boat, a small tinny, right, a boat that is made from tin, like the thin sheet metal. A tinny. We can use that two ways in Australian English, right. We can talk about tinnies being those small tin boats, but it can also be a can of beer, usually. A tinny. But yeah, what would you do if you found yourself face to face all of a sudden with a very venomous snake?

I think for me, I'd probably be keen to just jump into the water and swim back to shore. Although if it was 11 kilometres, maybe not. Maybe I'd try and find a way to get the snake out and into the water. Anyway, all right, let's get on to the joke. Slap the bird. So, today's joke is, where did Captain Hook buy his hook? So, Captain Hook is the captain pirate dude from the fairy tale 'Peter Pan', I guess, you know, Captain Hook.

Maybe you've seen the movie with Robin Williams, with Captain Cook in that. Where did Captain Hook buy his hook? At a second-hand store. Do you get it? Do you get it? So, Captain Hook has a hook, I believe, because the crocodile in the fairy tale or in the story bit his hand off, so he had to get a hook in place of his hand. And so, where did he buy his hook? At a second-hand store.

If something is second hand it means that it is for sale a second time, right. So, someone bought it brand new and then they sell it second hand, or you buy it second hand. So, the pun here is on the word hand, right, a second-hand store. So, this is where you go to get your second hand. Okay, so today's expression is "in the same boat", to be "in the same boat" as someone else.

This one was interesting. I've heard this expression used in; I think we use it in Portuguese. No mesmo barco. No mesmo barco. And I think you could use it in French, too. Dans le même bateau. You'll have to tell me; I could be wrong. But the idea is a pretty common one, which we'll get into shortly. Before that, though, we will describe and define the words in the expression, "in the same boat".

So, to be "in" something, this is expressing the situation of something that is or appears to be enclosed or surrounded by something else. So, at the moment, I have water in my protein shaker here, my plastic cup, there's water in it, right. It is enclosed by the cup. The water is inside the cup, it is "in" it. "The same". If you are "the same" as something else, you are identical to that thing, right.

That there's no difference between you and that thing. These two things are "the same". So, I'm trying to think, I've got two pens here in front of me. These pens are exactly the same. They came from the same packet. They are identical. They are not different. They are "the same". Lastly, a "boat", I'm sure you'll know what a "boat" is. We just talked about tinnies, that's a "boat".

A "boat" is a small vessel for travelling over water, propelled by oars, sails or an engine. So, let's define the expression "in the same boat", and we usually use this to be "in the same boat" as someone else. So, you two are "in the same boat", you're "in the same boat" as this other person. If you're "in the same boat" as someone else, you are in a similar situation to them or in the same position as they are.

You're in the same circumstances, you're facing the same predicament, the same problem, the same issues as that person. You guys are "in the same boat". Right. So, the idea here, I guess being that whatever conditions that boat is facing, if you're both inside the same boat, you're "in the same boat", you're facing the same conditions. So, I wanted to find out, where did this come from? Where did this expression come from?

"In the same boat" originated in the 16th century in Britain, when Thomas Hudson translated Du Bartas' Histoire of Judith in 1584, he formed a metaphor that equated being "in the same boat" with having the same fate. Have ye pain? So, likewise, pain have we. For in one boat, we both embarked be. I guess the phrase here is effectively, if you're in pain, we also have pain, so we are both embarking in the same boat.

So, the phrase is unusual in that it is purely metaphorical. The metaphor took some time to catch public imagination, but in 1629, the clergyman, Thomas Taylor, used it again in the following phrase, "he is in the same boat, which is tossed and threatened with the tempest, and is some way interest in the common cause and quarrel."

So, I guess that is, he is in the same boat, which is tossed and threatened by the storm, and is some way interested in the same cause or quarrel, fight, I guess I don't know the context here. But that's what it probably means. The metaphor clearly alludes to the fact that one cannot get off a boat once it is underway, and imagery of people who are together in a boat are sharing the same fate, whether they choose to or not.

So, as usual, guys, let's go through three examples of how I would use this expression "in the same boat" in day-to-day life, right, in everyday English. So, example number one. Imagine you're a mad fisherman, meaning that you love to go fishing, right. You're not a fisherman who is mad. Although, yeah, if you made a fisherman mad, he would be a mad fisherman.

Well, you can use "mad" in front of a noun like that, like fishermen to mean that you absolutely love doing it. So, you could be a mad football fan. You could be a mad fisherman. So, you love fishing every weekend, you hook your trailer up to your boat, to the back of your four-wheel drive and you head down to the closest boat ramp, you put the boat in the water, and you head off out to sea.

You usually don't go alone, but instead you take your mates and all of you guys' kind of have boats and you rotate through whose turn it is. One day you call up your mates to organise a trip and find out that their boats are being repaired because of some issues with their engines. If you happen to have the same problem, too, happening to your boat, you know, the engine as well is broken down, and none of you guys can go fishing.

You're all "in the same boat", right. Although, ironically, none of you were in any boats because your boats are all broken, if that makes sense. So, you're in the same boat, in that you're experiencing the same thing as all your friends, that their boats are all being repaired because the engines are buggered up. But you're not in any boat because they're all buggered up.

Example number two. You've been in a relationship with your current partner for a year now, and after a year you've had a huge fight and you end up breaking up with this person and just ending the relationship. So, you call up your closest friend to vent about this break-up, you know, you're so frustrated and angry about having broken up with this person.

You call up your friend and you're going to tell them how you feel and let your frustration out. Only what happens is once you call your friend, the first thing they tell you is the fact that they've just broken up with their partner and they start venting to you. They start bitching about their partner and how bad they were and why they had to break up. So, you find out that both of you are "in the same boat".

You've recently both broken up with your respective partners. You're both now single. You're both angry. You're both venting to one another. You are both "in the same boat". Example number three. So, imagine you're currently looking for a job in Australia and you're finding it hard because COVID has caused your type of job to become obsolete.

I don't know what kind of job that would be but imagine there's- I'm sure there are plenty of jobs at the moment, maybe restaurant owner, that are being heavily affected by COVID. So, you've had to, you know, get rid of that job and you're applying for heaps and heaps of other jobs, and you end up meeting lots of people in the same situation as you. They've all been affected by COVID. They've all lost their jobs.

They're all having to apply for all of the available jobs that are out there now. Because you're all in the same position, you're all looking for a job. You're in the job market. You're all "in the same boat". You are all experiencing the same predicament. You're in the same position. You're in a similar situation. Okay. So, that is the expression "to be in the same boat, to be in the same boat as someone else".

It is when you and that person are experiencing the same circumstances, the same problem, the same predicament. So, as usual, guys, let's go through a little listen and repeat exercise here where you can work on your pronunciation. So, I'm going to read out a number of different phrases.

Repeat them after me, listen to my pronunciation, to my intonation, to contractions that may be taking place, and this is going to help you level up your pronunciation. Okay, you ready? Let's go.

"To. To be. To be in. To be in the. To be in the same. To be in the same boat. To be in the same boat. To be in the same boat. To be in the same boat. To be in the same boat. I'm in the same boat. You're in the same boat. He's in the same boat. She's in the same boat. We're in the same boat? They're in the same boat. It's in the same boat."

Good job, guys, so there's a few interesting things going on here. So, if we go back to the full phrase "to be in the same boat", I wonder if you hear how I'm joining the words "be and in". "To be in. To be in." I'm joining them with a /j/ vowel sound. It's sort of slight, but that's how I'm joining those two vowel sounds.

You'll know in English that any time there are two vowels next to one another, so especially like between words here "be and in", the /i:/ and /ɪ/ vowel sounds, we use a "W", a "Y" or an "R" sound to join these vowels. So, "to be in the same boat", in this case, it is the sound /j/, /j/. "To be in the same boat".

The other thing that I want to mention is that when we go through the phrases, "I'm in the same boat, you're in the same boat", have a listen to how the auxiliary verb "to be", which is conjugated here into am, are or is and contracted onto the pronouns I, you and he. So, you're going to hear "I'm" instead of "I am". "You're" instead of "you are". "He's" instead of "he is".

Have a listen to how these are linking to the word "in". "I'm in. You're in. He's in". The consonant sound at the ends of these contractions is actually joining to the next syllable and starting the word "in". "I'm in. You're in. He's in". And then lastly, it's interesting to have a listen to "in the" becoming de-emphasised in the sentence. So, this is more related to intonation. "I'm in the same boat".

It can almost be that both those words "in" and "the" get turned into a schwa sound. "I'm in the same boat. I'm in the same boat". So, you can hear "in the, in the", or you could hear "in the, in the". "I'm in the same boat. I'm in the same boat." And we're emphasising the contraction of the pronoun and the auxiliary verb, "I'm, you're, he's" and then "same and boat". "I'm in the same boat. You're in the same boat."

Okay, so there's a bit about pronunciation, linking contractions and obviously intonation. Remember, if you want to learn more about Australian pronunciation, you want to sound much more like an Australian when you speak English, you want to develop that Aussie accent. Be sure to go and check out my Australian pronunciation course. You will learn all of the different vowel sounds, the consonant sounds.

You'll learn how to use the IPA, the international phonetic alphabet, so that you can improve your pronunciation on your own, using dictionaries or using other online resources. And I also recently included another 25 advanced pronunciation lessons covering things like the Australian R Sound, the syllabic L, the syllabic N, the five different pronunciations of the letter X, things like that. So, go check it out.

Anyway, before we finish up today, I thought I would tell you a little bit about Jessica Watson. Okay, so this was how I was trying to link boats and the expression "in the same boat". So, Jessica Watson was born on the 18th of May in 1993 on the Gold Coast in Queensland. She was the second of four children of a New Zealand couple, Roger and Julie Watson, who moved to Australia in the late 80s.

All four of their children received sailing lessons from a very young age, and the family would go on to live on board a 16-metre cabin cruiser for five years whilst the children were home schooled via distance learning. When Jessica was 11 years old, her mum read her the book 'Lionheart A Journey of the Human Spirit' by Jesse Martin.

He became the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe solo, non-stop and unassisted in 1999 at the age of just 18. It was at this point that Jessica decided she wanted to follow in Jesse Martin's footsteps and become the youngest person and the first girl to ever circumnavigate the globe. She spent the next five years training intensely on many different boats.

The boat that she chose to complete the journey was a 10.23 metre Sparkman and Stephens, model S&S 34, the same model that Jesse Martin had used to complete his journey. It was refitted and received upgraded equipment, including a new galley, reconditioned diesel and water tanks, and a complete rebuild of the electrical system.

She named the boat Ella's Pink Lady. On the 18th of October 2009, her pink hulled boat set sail out of Sydney Harbour. 18 days later, she passed Tonga and sailed clear of New Zealand and Fiji. She crossed the equator on the 19th of November, a requirement of a successful full circumnavigation of the globe.

And on the 13th of January, she passed Cape Horn in Africa, having sailed nearly 10,000 nautical miles and was an impressive 11 days ahead of schedule. On the 10th of April 2010, she arrived back in the Australian economic zone and celebrated with a snack of crackers and Vegemite. While south of Australia she suffered a lot of bad weather but carried on like a trooper.

On the 3rd of May, she rounded the southeast cape of Tassie and began heading back north to Sydney, her final destination. She completed her incredible 210-day voyage at 1:53pm on the 15th of May 2010, when she arrived back in Sydney Harbour. Her 17th birthday was a mere three days later. Unfortunately, the voyage turned out to be shorter than the 21,600 nautical miles required to be considered a global circumnavigation.

However, she was awarded the Order of Australia Medal for her attempt. And anyone that you speak to in Australia, if they are a true blue, fair dinkum, Aussie should know who Jessica Watson is. So, guys, I hope you enjoyed this episode. Thank you so much for joining me as usual, and I'll see you next time. Tooroo.