The idiom “doesn’t hold water” means an argument, plan, or statement is flawed and false. It comes from the reliability of containers to hold liquids. It is used to question trustworthiness and tear down excuses.
When someone says something doesn’t hold water, they are trying to suggest that an argument, plan, or statement has some sort of logical flaw and is clearly false or wrong. The term is usually used to undermine something someone is saying and normally has a negative or offensive connotation. There are many different situations in which the term could be used, including disagreements, as a response to a lame apology for bad behavior, and as a way to correct someone who screwed up with a plan.
The use of the term “holding water” as an idiom comes from a basic metaphor involving various containers. If a jug or barrel is airtight, it passes the most basic test of reliability for the purpose of transporting liquids, and during times when things were handcrafted, it was more difficult to make reliable containers, which meant that the ability to retaining water was generally considered more valuable. A container – like a bucket, for example – that was constantly leaking water would have been difficult to recognize just by looking because small flaws and holes that allowed the liquid to pass through could be very small. The metaphorical connection to the reliability of a container and how easily water can reveal the quality of construction is generally related to the full meaning of this idiom.
Often, people use “hold water” when they want to question an opponent’s trustworthiness, suggesting that the person is dishonest, misinformed, or incompetent. For example, a politician might suggest that his opponent’s ideas don’t hold up, or a lawyer might try to suggest that the opposing defense’s arguments don’t hold up in a criminal case. In many situations, these sorts of uses could also be combined with insinuating that opponents are aware of flaws in their thinking and perhaps are trying to get away with some kind of deception. From a metaphorical perspective, their argument is compared to a pitcher of water that looks reliable but actually has small leaks that aren’t immediately visible.
Another very common use of the term “stop the water” is to tear down someone’s excuse. For example, if a child is caught misbehaving, he or she might try to make up a wild story to explain the behavior and avoid trouble. The mother or father in this situation could inform the child that his excuses did not hold up, making him understand that his imaginative stories were not deceiving anyone.
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