sink or swim

Cultural  

1. A sink-or-swim situation is one in which we must save ourselves by our own means or else fail. The image is that of a person thrown into the water without a life preserver; he or she must swim or drown.

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sink or swim Idioms  

1. Succumb or succeed, no matter what, as in Now that we've bought the farm, we'll have to make a go of it, sink or swim. This expression alludes to the former barbaric practice of throwing a suspected witch into deep water, often weighted down. In case of sinking, the victim died; in case of swimming, the victim was considered in league with the devil and therefore was executed. A related idiom, float or sink, was used by Chaucer in the late 1300s; Shakespeare had the current form in 1 Henry IV (1:3): “Or sink or swim.”

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Example Sentences

Freshman point guard Phillip Reed Jr. of Palisades entered high school ready to sink or swim going against varsity players who were stronger and more experienced.

From Los Angeles Times

For new players, it was sink or swim.

From BBC

He purposely let his boys sink or swim on their own.

From Los Angeles Times

Being the youngest of three water polo playing brothers, it was sink or swim in the Ohl household growing up in Greenwich, Conn. One brother plays for Stanford, where Connor will soon join him.

From Los Angeles Times

“I don’t know that every single mom out there is optimally well-prepared to parent any more than a dad is. It’s a little bit of a sink or swim, maybe for all of us, to some degree.”

From Los Angeles Times