shoot fish in a barrel
photo credit: "Herrings" by 16:9clue (CC-BY-2.0) Definition:
(verb phrase)
do something with guaranteed success
slam dunk (usually a verb phrase, used in this example as a noun)
an easy success
Example: For a woman as beautiful as Rachel, getting a man to buy her a drink was like shooting fish in a barrel. However, men found getting her phone number was not a slam dunk.
Quote:
"I purposely didn't do the Harry Potter movie because for me, that was shooting ducks in a barrel. It's just a slam dunk. It's just like withdrawing a billion dollars and putting it into your personal bank account. There's no challenge."
True, it's usually fish in a barrel, but, shooting ducks would
be even easier, since they'd float on top of the water. Spielberg may
have been combining this expression with the phrase a sitting duck
(an easy target) to add emphasis. Or maybe he was just confused.
Though shooting fish in a barrel is not a popular sport, many people
have slam dunked. The expression comes from the basketball term
meaning to force the ball through the hoop from above. Hit a home run,
a similar expression from baseball, can be used to talk about business
or sexual success. For more information on that topic, see the Ask
AC Archives.
A. C. Kemp | January 23, 2003
