to rock the boat
20
5.3
- idiom
- Informal
:
hacer olas
- He decided to stay quiet during the meeting because he didn't want to rock the boat.
- want to rock the boat
- afraid to rock the boat
- try to rock the boat
And and I learned to not rock the boat as I got older.
- And and I learned to not rock the boat as I got older.
- Please, your bosses don't rock the boat too much.
- The more he rocks the boat, the more donations he gets from his party.
- Am I going to honor the self and and really rock the boat?
- Well, we're afraid that if we rock the boat, we might ruin this thing that we're really enjoying.
- And the the lesson from this is that, you know, sometimes it's important to rock the boat if the boat is going in the wrong direction.
- And it was, you know, associated with this sort of Southern, everything works out if you let it go nice and slow and don't rock the boat kind of kind of old boy thing.
- So Next up I thought I would rock the boat a little bit by doing a blouse and skirt combo.
Examples
-
So sometimes, our only option is just to sit back and not rock the boat.
-
Don't rock the boat, don't interfere.
-
So as long as nobody comes to rock the boat, right?
-
Why do you want to rock the boat?
-
No, no, no I'm not here to rock the boat.
-
But it might not really be the best idea to rock the boat in a classroom environment.
Blog text (2) -
Successful people become successful because they rock the boat, and society in general does not like boat rockers.
Blog text (12) -
Most people don't want to rock the boat.
Fiction book (2002) -
The message is: go to college, be nice to your parents, and don't rock the boat.
Blog text (27) -
The Republicans don't want to rock the boat at the expense of the American people.
Blog text (2)
Synonyms
48
4.8
To make people feel strong emotions like anger or fear
41
4.2
To upset someone strongly and change how they feel
12
4.9
To get attention or cause trouble by changing the usual way things are done
9
7.2
Upset people by challenging usual views
8
8.0
To cause trouble by saying things to make people argue
5
5.3
To cause fights or problems between people on purpose
To say or do something that causes strong reactions and confusion among people
To cause a lot of trouble and anger among people
To cause trouble between people to get attention
To say or do things that cause arguments and make people angry
Antonyms
How Disruptive
128
4.6
4
5.8
- Informal
20
5.3
- Informal
45
4.9
- Informal
9
7.2
- Formal
7
3.9
Surface Forms
Morphology
rock + the + boat
The meaning 'to cause trouble or disturb the balance of a situation' is directly and transparently derived from the literal image of 'rock' (to move or disturb) acting on a 'boat' (a vessel that can become unstable). This physical metaphor is simple and common across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the idiomatic meaning.
Etymology
Rock the boat comes from the image of someone pushing a small boat so it rocks and becomes wobbly. So, to rock a boat meant making a calm situation suddenly unsafe, and today it means 'to cause trouble or disturb the balance'.