Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

when you're up to your neck in alligators, it's hard to remember that your initial objective was to drain the swamp

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.78 in modern English

Syllables
when y-ou're up -to y-our -neck- in al-li-ga-tors, it's hard -to re-mem-ber that y-our ini-tial ob-jec-tive was -to drain the swamp
IPA
157
Scrabble Score
92
Letters
17
Syllables
22
Unique Chars

Meaning

proverb

It is easy to lose sight of one's initial objective, becoming caught up in subtasks or in tasks only tangentially related to the original goal.

Example Sentences

Phrases

yak shaving XY problem if you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging

Frequently Paired Words

yak shaving bikeshedding XY problem if you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging

Questions

What does when you're up to your neck in alligators, it's hard to remember that your initial objective was to drain the swamp mean?
It is easy to lose sight of one's initial objective, becoming caught up in subtasks or in tasks only tangentially related to the original goal.

How to pronounce when you're up to your neck in alligators, it's hard to remember that your initial objective was to drain the swamp

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “when you're up to your neck in alligators, it's hard to remember that your initial objective was to drain the swamp”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
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