The English language knows the idiom ‘it doesn’t hold water’. The same idiom exists in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian as well. There is, however, a slight difference between the two languages, although one way of understanding it in English is the same as what we find in BCS.

When we say that something doesn’t hold water, we say that something doesn’t appear to be true. It is not verifiable or supported by facts. When we hear that someone in Serbia says that the members of the LGBT+ community are sick arguing that the WHO had claimed so until 19.. and so on, we can say that this ‘argument’ is untrue: ‘I am sorry, but in the light of science, your story just doesn’t hold water’.

That was a simple example. There is one more meaning to this phrase. When we say that someone can’t keep a secret or stop himself/herself from talking about something, we can also say that this person can’t hold their water.

When it comes to the Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian language, the idiom is ‘ne držati vodu’. The meaning of this expression in BCS is equal to the first English language meaning. So, if we don’t trust our politicians in the region (as we usually don’t) we can say: ‘What this man is saying ne drži vodu.’

This idiom is a case of those expressions that have the same direction in both languages. There might be many examples, and it’s sometimes challenging to say which version is authentic. Even though I am keen to believe that they mostly come from Latin or English, yet we can’t say so without a deeper insight.

NOTICE: This text is not peer-reviewed. It aims to inspire and motivate language learners of Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian to think about possible cultural patterns when learning this/these language(s).