Why is it that when someone is in serious trouble, it is referred to it as being in hot water?

 

It doesn’t make any sense because if you are like many, you would actually enjoy being in hot water.  Iknow I do. I relax, rejuvenate and melt away all the stress in my life each time I get into my hot tub. The pain in my joints and measles disappear, and I have a sound sleep. That doesn’t sound like trouble to me. So where did this expression originate from?

 

Initially I wondered if it came from the old cartoon image of an explorer captured by cannibals, tied up in a huge pot of water. But I was pretty sure the expression had been around longer then cartoons. Then I thought it might have came about from peoples fear of cannibals. So I “googled” it and the only explanation I found was that before there were trials by jury, there were trials by ordeal. The ordeal depended on the crime, but if it carried the death penalty the accused could find himself in hot water. The defendant was forced into a large cauldron of boiling water, and if he survived he was clearly innocent, but on the other hand if he died he must have committed the crime because the Supreme Being hadn’t interfered.

 

Today, we do not live in fear hot water. In fact, many people good pay money to bath in natural hot springs to experience the restorative and curative values of the hot waters. Women turn to hot water and Calgon to take them away to another place in their bath tubs. Doctors recommend hot water therapy for rehabilitation from injuries.  Also hot water is used to relieve pain and promote healing for a variety of medical reasons, including insomnia.

 

I personally find myself in hot water up to two times a day. First in the morning, to ease the pain of a stiff neck and back.  This is something I tend to get, no matter how good a mattress I have. And then again in the evening to relieve the stress from my day, sort out any troubles that came my way during the day and help me sleep soundly.

 

So next time you find yourself in hot water, find yourself in hot water.