Hard: To be out of your depth

Premier Vocabulary is a mini-podcast for you to learn football English one word at a time. We have three different levels for you: easy, medium and hard.

This episode is hard so we’re looking at more difficult football phrases and idioms.

Summary

Learn more football vocabulary with Premier Skills English. Each lesson in our Premier Vocabulary section looks at one football word or phrase. This lesson looks at the phrase to be out of your depth. 

You can find more lessons on the side of this page.

Transcript

Rich: Hello my name’s Rich and welcome to Premier Skills English - Premier Vocabulary.

Jack: Hi there! I’m Jack. We’re here to help you with your football English. Premier Vocabulary is a mini-podcast for you to learn football English one word at a time. 

Rich: We have three different levels for you: easy, medium and hard.

Jack: This episode is hard so we’re looking at more difficult football phrases and idioms. 

Rich: The phrase we are looking at in this episode is: to be out of your depth.

Jack: To be out of your depth means to be not good enough in a specific situation or at a specific thing.

Rich: The phrase comes from swimming and literally means that you are in water that is too deep for you to stand in.

Jack: The phrase is linked to the feeling of panic someone has when they realise they can’t swim and the water is too deep.

Rich: You quickly realise that you are in a situation that is beyond what you are capable of. You are out of your depth.

Jack: You often feel out of your depth if you don’t have enough knowledge about a certain subject.

Rich: For example, if someone starts talking to me about the details of car mechanics I quickly find myself out of my depth and want to change the subject.

Jack: Or even worse, if someone passes you a spanner and asks you to help.

Rich: Yes, I’d feel totally out of my depth. I wouldn’t know which end of the spanner to use. 

Jack: Spanners are often the same at both ends.

Rich: See. Totally out of my depth. Another example might be if you’re put in the wrong class at a language school.

Jack: I remember learning French once and the school put me in an advanced class by mistake. I was a beginner. I felt totally out of my depth.

Rich: When we hear the phrase out of your depth to speak about football we can talk about teams or individual players.

Jack: When we talk about teams that are new in the Premier League people often say they will be relegated immediately because they will be totally out of their depth.

Rich: These people are saying that the gap between the Premier League and the division below is too big and that the challenge of the Premier League will be beyond these teams’ capabilities.

Jack: You could say that Norwich City were out of their depth this season but it’s not the same for all clubs that win promotion.

Rich: People often talk about individual players, too, especially when they are new in the Premier League.

Jack: You might hear someone saying that a player looks out of his depth in the Premier League or out of his depth in midfield.

Rich: Again, here, people are saying that the Premier League or a certain position is too challenging for the player and it’s beyond his capabilities.

Jack: To be out of your depth. To be beyond someone’s capabilities.

Rich: There is the final whistle!

Jack: We’ll be back soon with more Premier Vocabulary from Premier Skills English.

Rich: Bye for now and enjoy your football.

Comment

Discuss

Have you ever felt out of your depth?

Can you think of a team or player that appeared to be out of their depth?