Context #1: James is met at home by his angry mother
Mother: You are in hot water, young man!
James: Why? What did I do?
Mother: You took the car without asking. Now you come home – and it’s 2:00 am! You didn’t call or tell me where you were!
James: But, Mom, I couldn’t tell you; I went to a SURPRISE party!
Mother: Well, surprise! You’re grounded!
James: Why? What did I do?
Mother: You took the car without asking. Now you come home – and it’s 2:00 am! You didn’t call or tell me where you were!
James: But, Mom, I couldn’t tell you; I went to a SURPRISE party!
Mother: Well, surprise! You’re grounded!
Context #2: Doreen and Tom are in school talking about their classmate, Gina
Tom: Do you think the teacher notices?
Doreen: Oh yeah! Mrs. Lynch told Gina that she’d be in hot water if she missed another class.
Meaning: to be in trouble. “Hot water” is a bad situation. We have many idioms that connect “hot” things with difficult situations: “out of the frying pan and into the fire” and “feel the heat” are two others.
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