como un pez en agua

Question

Hello, There is an ad in Spanish I hear on the Spanish language station that I've been wondering about.. maybe some of you are familiar with it, they play it all the time, haha. In it, young kids are talking about about how it feels to have asthma/an asthma attack.

One kid says: Yo siento como un pez en agua.

I've always wondered how this makes sense... if it were a fish OUT of water, wouldn't that make more sense? I don't know... this has always bugged me, lol. Any ideas?

Answer 1

Are you sure he doesn't say "sin agua"?

Answer 2

The phrase is "Like a fish in the water". That means that someone is "in their own element" to express the idea of "Yo me siento como pez en el agua"

• Thanks! So that phrase does exist. But it ptobably doesn't make much sense in the given context, right? I'm guessing I misheard and it really was "sin agua", like the poster above noted. - jessui Feb 22, 2010

Answer 3

jeezzle, Oh, it may very well be that!! If so.. that makes much more sense! I imagine that must be it - muchas gracias!

• Sorry, that was me (original poster) trying to reply to your answer. Thanks! - jessui Feb 22, 2010

Answer 4

Benz hit the nail on the head (dio en el clavo).

The opposite expression would be sentirse como sapo de otro pozo = To be like a fish out of water.

• Like a toad from another well? Really? I must say that I learn something new everyday on here :) - alba3 Feb 22, 2010

Answer 5

Jessui said:

Thanks! So that phrase does exist. But it ptobably doesn't make much sense in the given context, right? I'm guessing I misheard and it really was "sin agua", like the poster above noted. - jessui

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It depends on the context jessui. If the speaker wants to say he feels in a confortable situation, he says "I feel like fish in the water" - Me siento como pez en el agua.

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On the other hand, if he wants to say that he feels out of his element or unconfortable in that situation he says: "Me siento como pez sin agua" I feel like fish out of the water.

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Hope it helps!

Answer 6

Native English speakers don't develop as sensitive an ear for the vowel sounds as Spanish speaker. To an English speaker "pez sin agua" and "pez en agua" sound almost identical. It's about like an Spanish speaker trying to distinguish between "lamp" and "lamb".

• I see... that's why the context is so important... he can get a clue... :) - Benz Feb 22, 2010