like shooting fish in a barrel

Of some task or activity, exceptionally easy to do or accomplish. It should have been like shooting fish in a barrel, but convincing them to increase their investment is proving a lot trickier than we expected. Picking personal flaws of the president to mock in your comedy routing is like shooting fish in a barrel.

Rur. ridiculously easy. Jane's a good mechanic. Changing a tire is like shooting fish in a barrel, for her. That comedian has an easy job. Making fun of politicians is like shooting fish in a barrel.

Ridiculously easy, as in Setting up a computer nowadays is like shooting fish in a barrel. This hyperbolic expression alludes to the fact that fish make an easy target inside a barrel (as opposed to swimming freely in the sea). [Early 1900s]

If arguing, fighting or competing with someone is like shooting fish in a barrel, it is very easy to win. His criticism of US TV news is like shooting fish in a barrel. Note: You can also say that someone is shooting fish in a barrel if they are arguing, fighting or competing with people who are easy to beat. I admire his humour, but I think he's shooting fish in a barrel. With more discipline, he might convince some viewers who aren't already converted. Note: You can also say that people are like fish in a barrel if they are easy to defeat or kill. Marksmen were using our satellite dishes for target practice. We felt like fish in a barrel.

Extremely easy; ridiculously simple. Why anyone would want to shoot fish at all, let alone when they are inside a barrel, is not known. Clearly this is a fanciful hyperbole. It dates from the twentieth century. Gene Fowler used it in The Great Mouthpiece (1931), “It’s like shooting fish in a barrel,” and presumably it was already a well-known phrase.