"...like shooting fish in a barrel"

(originally posted on myspace 10/11/2006)

I'm sure you've all heard the expression "...like shooting fish in a barrel". And I have to be honest, it's confused me for years. I could determine by the way it was being used that it is implying something is "easy", but I didn't understand the connection. Every time I would hear it, my mind would desperately try to grasp the relevance, and the following would occur in my head:

1- I immediately picture:
A wooden barrel.
Filled with water.
And a fish happily swimming along, in the barrel filled with water.

2- Then I question:
Why isn't the water leaking out of the barrel through the wood?
Who would fill a barrel with water and put a fish in it, and more importantly - why?
How could it possibly be EASY to hit this one little moving target, even if it is an enclosed space? Do they shoot once, let the water drain, then aim for and shoot the fish at the bottom of the barrel?

Needless to say, any conversation after that phrase was lost on me, since I was contemplating this scenario- only to frustrate myself with no result.

Thank goodness Michael put an end to this perplexing mystery and finally explained it to me on Sunday...

Apparently there is not ONE fish in the barrel, but MANY fish. And there is no water. In fact, none of them are "happily swimming along" because they are all dead and stacked up on top of each other, making them a much easier target.

So I guess that in light of that, the expression makes more sense; but I still don't understand why there is a barrel full of fish. Or how this ridiculous phrase made it into the language. However, I do know that you won't catch me using it!