- Earliest recorded uses: "fish out of the water" (1585,Lamentable Complaint of Commonality), "Fishes out of the Water" (1613, Samuel Purchas,Pilgrimage).[1]
- Earliest use of metaphor by Chaucer inThe Canterbury Tales: Prologue (c. 1405) as "fissh þt is waterlees".[1]
Compare also the antonymousFrenchcomme un poisson dans l'eau,Germanwie ein Fisch im Wasser.
fishoutofwater (pluralfishes out of waterorfish out of water)
- (idiomatic) A person inunfamiliar and oftenuncomfortablesurroundings.
- Synonym:square peg in a round hole
1921,Edgar Wallace, chapter 2, inThe Book of All-Power:[I]nto this queer assembly, something of afish out of water and wholly out of his element, strode Cherry Bim, that redoubtable man.
1942 May 25, “Sport: Pitcher Hits Ball”, inTime, retrieved2 October 2016:A pitcher at bat is usually considered such afish out of water that he is expected to foul, ground or strike out.
1990 September 17, Larry Rohter, quotingQuincy Jones, “‘Fresh Prince of Bel Air’ Puts Rap in Mainstream”, inThe New York Times[1],→ISSN:“The basis of this show isfish out of water,” said the executive producer, Quincy Jones, the music impresario who has never before put his name on a television series but whose work as producer of Michael Jackson's albums won him respect in Hollywood as a canny judge of public tastes.
2004 December 22, Jennifer Medina, “Housewives, Try This for Desperation”, inNew York Times, retrieved2 October 2016:Many stay-at-home fathers find that they arefish out of water, too.
a person in unfamiliar, and often uncomfortable, surroundings
, Oxford:Oxford University Press, launched 2000.