Subtitles section Play video Print subtitles Hi this is Tutor Nick P and this is Proverbs 132. The proverb today is "a drowning man will clutch or grasp at a straw.' Okay. Let's take a look at the note here. This proverb is often used as the American idiom to clutch at straws or the British idiom grasp at straws. Even though in the US., sometimes I hear grasp at straws too, but it is more British. All right. Let's continue here. If someone clutches or grasps at straws, he or she tries to do something that is very unlikely to succeed and they only do it out of desperation. Almost like what were they thinking ? Did they really think that was going work ? You know , the only reason they tried it is because they were so desperate they, they would... they probably had no other choice. They're just a last hope. Okay. So let's continue. The proverb alludes to the idea that a drowning man will try to clutch even at just a piece of floating straw. So if you're really in the water and you're drowning and there's that piece of floating straw . Ah ! Maybe you still try to grab it. I don't know. To hope beyond hope that you know, somehow a miracle could happen and it could save you. We say to save himself. Of course, a floating piece of straw is too weak to possibly hold or save a drowning man. So the action is futile. It is useless. It's not going to save them. Okay. Anyway, let's look at some examples we have here. Here's the first one. He must really be desperate to make this attempt. He is just clutching at straws All right. So this is the idiom use. The first one, the first like the American one. Oh ! Must be clutching at straws. There is no way this can be reversed. It can't be changed back around. All right. Number two. Now this is the actual proverb you could use it as the actual proverb too. This is an a/b part. So A here says did he really think this desperate attempt would work ? And B says well you know, how it goes. A drowning man will clutch at a straw. Well that's the way you might use it with the proverb. Okay. And the last one you know, the idiom that maybe the way the British may use it. Number three. Their claims and accusations have no validity. You know. no validity, no proof. They are just grasping at straws. Okay. Anyway, this is the way it's used. I hope you got it . I hope is clear. Thank you for your time. Bye-bye.
B1 US drowning straw clutch proverb idiom grasp English Tutor Nick P Proverbs (132) A Drowning Man Will Clutch at a Straw 15 0 anitawu12 posted on 2019/06/21 More Share Save Report Video vocabulary