You can't take me to the water's edge and not let me have a drink.

[alpacinou]

I heard this expression in a podcast but I can't find the website or the transcript:

+Will you tell me who you mean by that?
-No!
+But you can't take me to the water's edge and not let me have a drink.

Is this a fixed expression? If not, will it be strange to use it in everyday conversations? Are these correct and natural?

1. Alice is such a tease. She keeps flirting with me but I think she will take me to the water's edge and not let me have a drink.
2. They keep telling her they want her for the position but wouldn't make an official offer. They're gonna take her to the water's edge and not let her have a drink.
3. Jack said he would buy all of us dinner but he took us to the water's edge and not let us have a drink. He just bailed before we ordered food!
4. -What's the name of your new girlfriend? +I can't tell you right now. -But you can't take me to the water's edge and not let me have a drink. You've been talking about her all day.

 

[emsr2d2]

The fixed expression is "You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink". Google that and I'm sure you will see how the person in the podcast was using their own version of it.

 

[alpacinou]

The fixed expression is "You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink". Google that and I'm sure you will see how the person in the podcast was using their own version of it.

I was already aware of that expression (You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink), which is about "giving someone an opportunity". It has a totally different meaning from the expression I heard in that podcast. The podcaster was trying to get a name out of the interviewee and she kept teasing him and wouldn't give him that name. He then said, "you can't take me to the water's edge and not let/allow me have a drink." It was about making someone believe they can have something then deny them!
Is there a fixed idiom for that?

 

[jutfrank]

No, it's the speaker own creation, based on the original 'horse' idiom. You don't need to learn it.

 

[alpacinou]

Do the four examples in post 1 work? I understand this is not a fixes expression, but do they make sense?

 

[emsr2d2]

1. Alice is such a tease. She keeps flirting with me but I think she will take me to the water's edge and but not let me [have a] drink.

2. They keep telling her they want her for the position but wouldn't make an official offer. They're gonna take her to the water's edge and not let her [have a] drink.

3. Jack said he would buy us all of us dinner but he took us to the water's edge and not didn't let us [have a] drink. He just bailed before we had even ordered food!

4. What's the name of your new girlfriend's name?
I can't tell you right now.
But Oh, come on! You can't take me to the water's edge and not let me [have a] drink. You've been talking about her all day.

In all honesty, I'm not hugely keen on any of them but that's just personal opinion. I've bracketed off "have a" in each one because I think the similarity to the original expression would be clearer with just "drink".