be in the same boat

be in the same boat

also all in the same boat or in the same boat

Meaning

• be in the same unpleasant situation as other people
• facing the same challenges as others
• having the same problems

Example Sentences

1. The speaker said that everyone should make an effort towards protection of the environment, as everyone was in the same boat and climate changes would have dire consequences for all.
2. Joe said that he hated his job, to which Bill retorted that they were all in the same boat.
3. When it came to contributing for the event, they realized all of them were in the same boat; none of them had much money with them, so they decided to drop it.
4. You are always go on about never having enough money, but we are all in the same boat, so stop complaining.
5. I know this is difficult work, but we are all in the same boat here, so we'll have to do this together.
6. When he lost his job, he twittered that it was not bad to know he was in the same boat as about three hundred thousand others in the country.

Origin
The phrase originated in the mid 1800s and was used mainly by the Greeks to refer to the risks faced by the passengers in a small boat at sea. Another interesting, but probably incorrect theory about the origin of the phrase refers to the sinking of the ship Titanic in 1912, when people from all classes were stuck in the same situation when the ship was sinking.