"there must be something in the water" meaning in English

See there must be something in the water in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Phrase

IPA: /ðɛə mʌst biː ˈsʌmθɪŋ ɪn ðə ˈwɔːtə/ [Received-Pronunciation], /ðɛəɹ mʌst bi ˈsʌmθɪŋ ɪn ðə ˈwɔtəɹ/ [General-American], [-ɾəɹ] [General-American] Audio: En-au-there must be something in the water.ogg
Rhymes: -ɔːtə(ɹ) Etymology: From the idea that there is a substance in drinking water which many people have drunk, thus affecting their behaviour. Etymology templates: {{root|en|ine-pro|*sem-|*tenk-|*wed-}} Head templates: {{head|en|phrase}} there must be something in the water
  1. (idiomatic, humorous) There are so many instances of something unusual, such as in people's behaviour, that there must be a common cause. Tags: humorous, idiomatic Categories (topical): Water Related terms: in the air Translations (there are so many instances of something unusual that there must be a common cause): onkohan vedessä jotain outoa? (Finnish)
    Sense id: en-there_must_be_something_in_the_water-en-phrase-MIHByJep Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Finnish translations
{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*sem-",
        "4": "*tenk-",
        "5": "*wed-"
      },
      "expansion": "",
      "name": "root"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From the idea that there is a substance in drinking water which many people have drunk, thus affecting their behaviour.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "phrase"
      },
      "expansion": "there must be something in the water",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "hyphenation": [
    "there"
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "phrase",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Finnish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Water",
          "orig": "en:Water",
          "parents": [
            "Liquids",
            "Matter",
            "Chemistry",
            "Nature",
            "Sciences",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2019, “Something in the Water”, performed by Stray from the Path, UNFD:",
          "text": "Our fathers' fathers / Hand-me-downs / The clip for the rounds / Just squeeze, don't choke / The future weeps in the shadow of the gun smoke / There must be something in the water / There must be something in the water / Over and over and over and over again / Violent men meet violent ends",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "There are so many instances of something unusual, such as in people's behaviour, that there must be a common cause."
      ],
      "id": "en-there_must_be_something_in_the_water-en-phrase-MIHByJep",
      "links": [
        [
          "humorous",
          "humorous"
        ],
        [
          "instances",
          "instance#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "unusual",
          "unusual#Adjective"
        ],
        [
          "people",
          "person#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "behaviour",
          "behavior"
        ],
        [
          "common",
          "common#Adjective"
        ],
        [
          "cause",
          "cause#Noun"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, humorous) There are so many instances of something unusual, such as in people's behaviour, that there must be a common cause."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "in the air"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "humorous",
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "there are so many instances of something unusual that there must be a common cause",
          "word": "onkohan vedessä jotain outoa?"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ðɛə mʌst biː ˈsʌmθɪŋ ɪn ðə ˈwɔːtə/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ðɛəɹ mʌst bi ˈsʌmθɪŋ ɪn ðə ˈwɔtəɹ/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "[-ɾəɹ]",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-au-there must be something in the water.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/2/2f/En-au-there_must_be_something_in_the_water.ogg/En-au-there_must_be_something_in_the_water.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/En-au-there_must_be_something_in_the_water.ogg"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɔːtə(ɹ)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "there must be something in the water"
}
{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*sem-",
        "4": "*tenk-",
        "5": "*wed-"
      },
      "expansion": "",
      "name": "root"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From the idea that there is a substance in drinking water which many people have drunk, thus affecting their behaviour.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "phrase"
      },
      "expansion": "there must be something in the water",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "hyphenation": [
    "there"
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "phrase",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "in the air"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English humorous terms",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English phrases",
        "English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European",
        "English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *sem-",
        "English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *tenk-",
        "English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *wed-",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Entries with translation boxes",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries",
        "Rhymes:English/ɔːtə(ɹ)",
        "Rhymes:English/ɔːtə(ɹ)/9 syllables",
        "Terms with Finnish translations",
        "en:Water"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2019, “Something in the Water”, performed by Stray from the Path, UNFD:",
          "text": "Our fathers' fathers / Hand-me-downs / The clip for the rounds / Just squeeze, don't choke / The future weeps in the shadow of the gun smoke / There must be something in the water / There must be something in the water / Over and over and over and over again / Violent men meet violent ends",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "There are so many instances of something unusual, such as in people's behaviour, that there must be a common cause."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "humorous",
          "humorous"
        ],
        [
          "instances",
          "instance#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "unusual",
          "unusual#Adjective"
        ],
        [
          "people",
          "person#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "behaviour",
          "behavior"
        ],
        [
          "common",
          "common#Adjective"
        ],
        [
          "cause",
          "cause#Noun"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, humorous) There are so many instances of something unusual, such as in people's behaviour, that there must be a common cause."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "humorous",
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ðɛə mʌst biː ˈsʌmθɪŋ ɪn ðə ˈwɔːtə/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ðɛəɹ mʌst bi ˈsʌmθɪŋ ɪn ðə ˈwɔtəɹ/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "[-ɾəɹ]",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-au-there must be something in the water.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/2/2f/En-au-there_must_be_something_in_the_water.ogg/En-au-there_must_be_something_in_the_water.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/En-au-there_must_be_something_in_the_water.ogg"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɔːtə(ɹ)"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "there are so many instances of something unusual that there must be a common cause",
      "word": "onkohan vedessä jotain outoa?"
    }
  ],
  "word": "there must be something in the water"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-01-15 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-01-01 using wiktextract (b941637 and 4230888). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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