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water it down

water it down

Date: Feb 27 2003

Quote

1. Quote - Listen to the quote and guess what the slang means.

“Universal (movie studio) made this movie. They believed in it. They got behind it. They didn’t try to water it down.”
- Kevin Spacey, actor, talking about his controversial new movie The Life of David Gale.

Definition

1. Definition - Study the definition.

make it weaker; make it less extreme; change it so that it becomes less offensive or forceful; dilute it; make it more acceptable

2. Use - Learn how the slang is used.

Water it down” can be used in many different contexts. You can use it any time you want to describe something that has been changed so that it’s weaker. For example, if your mom makes some lemonade for you and it’s too sour, you could tell her to “water it down” so it tastes better. Any time something is changed so that people will accept it easier, it’s being watered down.

Examples

1. Examples - Hear some example sentences.

””This hot chocolate is much too sweet. I need to water it down a little bit before I drink it.”“

””I hate the watered down pop music that’s played on the radio. It’s so bland and boring.”“

””It’s always sad when they make a powerful book into a bad movie. It sucks when they water it down. I don’t understand why they can’t make the book and the movie the same.”“

””I’m going to have to water this story down a bit before I tell it to my mom. She doesn’t need to hear all the disgusting details. I’ll just tell her the good parts.”“

Winners

1. Winners - See who guessed the slang definition correctly.

If you water something down, you try to make an idea or plan less extreme, so people will accept it easier.
by Ana Márcia (Belo Horizonte, Brazil)
water it down” mean changing something so that it becomes less offensive or forceful.
by Hieu Hoang (Vietnam)
I think water down means changes and make weaker
by Fábio Marques Pereira (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
Water it down“ means put more water into something to dilute it, make something with less density with water.but here it means put less effort and money, pay less attention to, care less about something.
by Grace (Toronto, Canada)
Water it down” means make something weak.
by hui shen
I think ‘water it down’ means lowering it, supporting it at a discount, not promoting it well.
by Antonia (Lancaster, UK)
“Water down,” thin out (here in a figurative sense.)
by GC Négro

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