The other night I was teaching a client in Moscow and he asked me to explain the phrase, "packed in like sardines" which he had heard was a good way to describe rush hour on the Moscow Metro, however he was a little unsure if it was an offensive phrase or not.
The phrase is not offensive and in fact comes from the business of food processing.
Sardines, as you know are a type of fish, and we normally buy our sardines in small tins. When we open a tin of sardines, its normal that there are a lot fish in the tin and there no free space.
Therefore the phrase packed in like sardines is used to describe a situation where people are in an area or space with little room to move.
So it is not offensive and in fact a very good way to describe the Moscow Metro during rush hour.
"Every morning I take the Metro to work, it is always full and there is no room to move because everyone is packed in like sardines."
Packed in Like sardines = No space to move
Learn more English online- SmartLanguageSolutions.com
About Me
- On Line English Teacher Dave
- I come from Dublin Ireland, I have a UK honours degree in law, I live near to London in the UK. I have taught English for over 20 years in England, Spain and Germany. I worked for local language schools as well as working for the international chains of Berltiz and Inlingua. My private clients include Commerzbank, Tecis, Banco Santander, Private law offices, Unileiver, Biersdorf and many more!