Su tre espressioni idiomatiche "acquatiche" nell'italiano di oggi e di ieri

The essay examines three idioms which refer to water, and in particular to the sea: non trovare acqua in mare lit. «to be unable to find water in the sea» 'said about someone who is unable to accomplish anything'; portare acqua al/in mare lit. «to add water to the sea» 'to do something completely useless', andare (o mandare) a scopare il mare lit. «to go (or to send someone) to sweep the sea» 'expression referred to someone who is annoying us'. Their meaning, their origin and their use in contemporary Italian (and in the Italian dialects) have been investigated.