Make Your Point > Archived Issues > FLOUNDER

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explore the archives: To struggle in a clumsy way is to flounder, and flounder is also a type of fish. So it's totally perfect that the endearingly awkward fish from The Little Mermaid was called Flounder. Remember him? Devoted and sweet, but jittery and quick to panic. Often floundering. From that same movie we also met Flotsam and Jetsam, the evil eel henchmen, and Scuttle, the friendly seagull with some disastrous misunderstandings of what forks and pipes are. Could you recall what all these names mean? And, how appropriate would you say they are for the characters? make your point with... "FLOUNDER" To flounder is to struggle with something in a clumsy, awkward way. Pronunciation: FLOUN dur Part of speech: Intransitive verb. (Like "sleep," "skydive," and "succeed," all intransitive verbs show complete action on their own and do not do action to an object. You sleep, you skydive, you succeed, and that’s it. You don’t "sleep a bed," "skydive a plane," or "succeed a plan." Likewise, something or someone flounders.) Other forms: floundered, floundering How to use it: Because "flounder" suggests the fish, and because it sounds like (and may be related to) the words "flop" and "blunder," it's often a funny, colorful choice--more lighthearted than "struggle," "muddle," or "thrash." Floundering can be physical ("I floundered with the heavy luggage and nearly tipped over"), but it's often abstract: "Health care reform has long floundered." It's often people who flounder, or groups of people who flounder: "he's floundering in his first semester of college;" "the team floundered all season." But you can also say that someone's mind or speech is floundering, that prices or markets or industries are floundering, that an attempt or an experiment is floundering, that an approach or an effort is floundering, that a process or system or policy is floundering, etc. Notice that we don't "flounder something." Instead, we flounder in situations, we flounder with things and people (and we flounder with doing things), we flounder at certain times, we flounder for certain periods of time, we flounder against our rivals, and we just plain flounder. "Floundering" is handy as an adjective: a floundering student, a floundering company, a floundering campaign, a floundering ideology. examples: Uber has been floundering this month, facing lawsuits and harassment claims. If you need a hearty laugh, search online for "infomercial fails" to watch actors floundering wildly with all kinds of simple tasks--eating tacos, pouring milk, putting on shoes. study it now: Look away from the screen to explain the definition in your own words. You’ll know you understand what "flounder" means when you can explain it without saying "fumble" or "stumble." try it out: Fill in the blank: "(Something exciting, confusing, or terrifying) sent my thoughts floundering." Example: "In the dim light of the garage, a slithering movement sent my thoughts floundering." before you review: Spend at least 20 seconds occupying your mind with the game below. Then try the review questions. Don’t go straight to the review now—let your working memory empty out first. Our game last month was "What's the Difference?" We explored the differences between very closely related things and concepts. From yesterday: What's the difference between deceit and deception? Answer: "Deceit" more often implies the intention to trick or mislead, while "deception" more often implies the accomplishment of the tricking or misleading. Now, a new game for March! We'll play with lines of poetry that include words we've checked out together in previous issues. I’ll give you a few lines from the poem, with a blank where our word appears, along with its definition. See if you can come up with it. Each answer will appear in the next day's issue. Enjoy! Try this today: From Langston Hughes's poem "Harlem:"    "What happens to a dream deferred?       Does it dry up       like a raisin in the sun?       Or ______ like a sore—       And then run?" Definition: to get worse and worse instead of healing. review today's word: 1. One opposite of FLOUNDER is A. FINESSE B. FLING C. FLUB 2. The first three questions were _____, but on the fourth, I floundered. A. simple B. tricky C. short Answers are below. a final word: To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact Liesl at Liesl@HiloTutor.com Disclaimer: Word meanings presented here are expressed in plain language and are limited to common, useful applications only. Readers interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words are encouraged to check a dictionary. Likewise, word meanings, usage, and pronunciations are limited to American English; these elements may vary across world Englishes. Answers to review questions: 1. A 2. A