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We have another saying in English: to be up Shit Creek without a paddle, which basically means to be in a boat in a river of trouble, but not have a paddle to help you row your way out. In other words, to be in an extremely difficult situation with no solution in sight. Well, we were literally up Shit Creek without a boat, to say nothing of a paddle.
1 Dejected, we sat on the hood of the car and basically gave up. I mentioned Rocky for the first time…“I hate to bring this up, but do you think there's any way Rocky may have somehow survived all this?” Her eyes 2 immediately filled with tears and she said,“I don’t even want to think about it. I never should’ve left him. Well, I’ve already said my goodbyes, so…”
But, again, man proposes and God disposes; right at that moment, we heard a voice coming from behind us. Looking back, we saw this guy with a huge mustache walking towards us. I guess he had seen the concerned look on our faces and came over to tell us exactly what we needed to hear: I have a boat. His name was Brady, and he was an absolute godsend in every sense of the word.
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1 Dejected, we... | This example also shows that it’s possible in English to start a sentence with an adjective that describes the general feeling of the subject, right in front of the subject. Here's another more conversational example: My sister said she was meeting me for lunch because she had something important to talk to me about. I got there at three, and after a half hour, I texted her. She just kept texting ‘I’m on my way.’ Tired of waiting and very hungry, I went ahead and ordered something to eat.The adjective dejected [dɪǰɛ́ktɪd] describes a state of mind where someone has tried to solve a problem several times and several ways, which have all failed, and as a result, they feel sad, depressed, and without the energy to keep trying. In other words, they’ve given up because they see no more options.__________________
2 Her eyes immediately filled... | The temporal adverbs sometimes, immediately, often all have one thing in common: they can go at the beginning or end of a statement, or they can go directly in front of the main verb, as in this example. What's the difference? When used at the beginning or end of a statement, they sound more emphatic — especially at the end. However, in front of the main verb, they tend to be milder and lend themselves more readily to narratives, stories, anecdotes, etc. Additionally, they sound more "personal" and tend to express the speakers feelings and emotions on a more personal level. That's why they lend themselves to storytelling in that position. In other words, Sometimes I call her just to hear her voice sounds kind of matter-of-fact. However, I sometimes call her just to hear her voice sounds more personal and heartfelt.to say nothing of… This is the same as let alone, which we met in 001 Nacho & Flor: “Well, I figured it'd be no trouble peeking in and saying goodnight to Nacho and Flor, so I said ok. I figured as long as I didn't have to touch them, let alone walk them, it was no biggie.” Here, I could’ve said to say nothing of walking them with the same meaning.
godsend A person or thing that arrives at the very moment they’re needed as if “sent by God”. It can also refer to the perfect solution for something. Note that we always use the indefinite article a with this word.This app is a godsend! Now I can send my family money in Europe anytime I want with one click.
I hate to bring this up, but… This is a common way to preface something that you’re about to talk about, which you know is an unpleasant topic for the person or people you’re talking to. It also expresses that the speaker has no choice but to say what they're going to say. They feel it has to be said, unpleasant as it may be.
to be up Shit Creek without a paddle A creek is like a river, only smaller. In the name Shit Creek, shit refers to problems, trouble, chaos, etc. This article claims that this phrase is based on an actual creek.
I’ve already said my goodbyes This expression is used in the sense that you’ve come to terms with the fact that you’ll never someone again. We say it in situations where we couldn’t say goodbye to someone in person because they died in another country, were incoherent because of a mental condition such as Alzheimer’s disease, or, as in this case, we’re not sure if they’re dead or alive, but have more or less accepted that it’s the former and have no hope of ever seeing them again.
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