Idiom
Rock the boat
To rock the boat is to cause trouble or upset a calm situation, often by questioning how things are done.
How people use it
It is most often used in the negative, as advice or a warning (don't rock the boat). People use it at work, in families and in groups where keeping the peace matters. It can suggest that the person causing the disturbance is a troublemaker, but it is also used with approval for someone brave enough to challenge an unfair situation. The tone is informal.
Examples
- Sam wanted to suggest a new schedule, but he didn't want to rock the boat during his first week.
- Everyone was getting along at dinner, so Grace decided not to rock the boat.
- Sometimes you have to rock the boat to change an unfair rule.
Where it comes from
The image is a small boat: if one person moves around carelessly, the boat tips and everyone may fall in. The figurative use, for upsetting a stable situation, became common in American English in the first half of the 1900s.
Check yourself
1. If a coworker advises you not to rock the boat, what does she mean?
Answer: Don't cause trouble or upset things. Rock the boat means disturbing a calm situation, so the advice is to keep the peace.
2. Which sentence uses the idiom correctly?
Answer: Leo rocked the boat by asking why only managers got bonuses.. Questioning an unfair practice disturbs the calm. Quiet agreement is the opposite, and the waves sentence is literal.
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