the.com/watering hole
Nature's open bar, where predator and prey agree on a temporary ceasefire.
means A place where people gather socially to drink and talk, typically a bar or pub, borrowed from the term for the spot where animals gather to drink water.
from Literal first: in savanna and veldt, a watering hole is simply the pond or pool where wildlife converges to drink. English speakers lifted the phrase in the 20th century as a jokey metaphor for the human equivalent — a favorite bar or pub where the local herd gathers, drinks, and (mostly) refrains from eating one another.
- truce logic
- lions and zebras drink meters apart, tension on hold
- origin shift
- now also means your favorite bar or hangout
- survival math
- animals risk ambush because thirst beats fear eventually
- office slang
- used for the break room where gossip actually happens