rock the boat en · VERB
Pronunciation
- (Australia) audio
Meanings
-
(idiomatic) To disturb the status quo or go against rules or conventions, as in an effort to get attention.
A lot of gay people I know, female and male, are conservative — perhaps even more conservative than they would be if they were non-gay because they've had such a hard struggle in life, they don't want to rock any boats.
1978 August 19, Tim Cwiek, Karen DeCrow, “Interview: Former NOW President DeCrow Talks About Gay Issues”, in Gay Community News, volume 6, number 5, page 7:But they're [Rupture] quite the opposite- they're very respectful of other people. They say offensive things to rock the boat and cause some turmoil in the world of safe, homogenized P.C. punk rock.
1994, Chris Dodge, quotee, “Slap a Ham Records”, in Chaotic Noise, number 3, Roanoke, Va., [https://archive.org/details/chaotic_noise_3/page/n43/mode/2up page [44]]:I'd just jump in and fix it, but that's not my job, and I don't want to rock the boat.
Just when I'm asking myself if it's worth it to rock the boat and wondering if I should compromise, something will happen to keep me going. Like one year I got an award from a women's group for, "exposing the jockocratic values of society.
1984, Jim Bouton, Ball Four Plus Ball, page 410:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| rocked the boat | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| rocked the boat | Tense=Past | lexicographic | |
| rocks the boat | Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres | lexicographic | |
| rocking the boat | Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic |
Synonyms
Translations (17)
is stofna málum í hættu (disturb the status quo) · it smuovere le acque (disturb the status quo) · is spilla fyrir (disturb the status quo) · cs dělat vlny (disturb the status quo) · is setja hlutina úr skorðum (disturb the status quo) · pl wprowadzać zamęt (disturb the status quo) · it causare guai (disturb the status quo) · ru раска́чивать ло́дку (disturb the status quo) · fr faire des vagues (disturb the status quo) · sv (inte) sitta still i båten (disturb the status quo) · is valda óróa (disturb the status quo) · cmn 打破常規 /打破常规 (disturb the status quo) · pl wprowadzić zamęt (disturb the status quo) · sv ställa till trassel (disturb the status quo) · is valda truflun (disturb the status quo) · sv röra om i grytan (disturb the status quo) · fi keikuttaa venettä (disturb the status quo)