Dear Language Council
When we began working on the Oslo Fjord issue, many questions quickly arose. One of them, bearing in mind the current status of the fjord, was whether the meaning of the well-known expression: "like a fish in water" should be reassessed.
We had to get to the bottom of the story and asked the Language Council of Norway.
The Language Council’s reply was that the expression still holds water, so to speak, even if the fish in the Oslo Fjord are not doing that well. They note that language is often quite conservative and that many formulations are left over from conditions that no longer exist. Some still ‘hang up the phone’, for example, or ‘pull the chain’. It is therefore quite natural to use the expression “like a fish in water” as we always have, regardless of the water quality. Most people, moreover, understand the expression to be about water rather than other elements. And that makes sense: water is best, after all.
As a result, it might seem easier to repair the Oslo Fjord (so that the expression is 100% correct) than to change the expression itself. And that would be great in any number of ways.
So that’s the answer to that question. Moving on, we’ll use our curiosity and brainpower on other things!
