Head Above Water

'I'm not normally stuck for words, but I do know now what they mean by tongue-tied. And when you have to contend with an encumbrance like that, what could actually be a knot in your tongue, and at the same time you're struggling to do all you can to keep your head above water enough to attend to how you're coming across to someone waiting so intently on what you're next going to say that suddenly you feel you're expected to justify your entire existence, it's not exactly a simple proposition.'