go with the flow
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go with the flow
To nonchalantly engage in a situation without trying to change it or assert control over it. We always do things your way—can't you just go with the flow for once? I try not to plan too much when I take a vacation to a new place. I like to just go with the flow when I get there. I know that being an artist is pretty unconventional, but I've always been one to go with the flow.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
go with the flow
and go with itInf. to cope with adversity; to accept one's lot. No, just relax and go with the flow. Go with it. Don't fight it.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
go with the flow
Also, go with the tide. Move along with the prevailing forces, accept the prevailing trend, as in Rather than striking out in new directions, I tend to go with the flow, or Pat isn't particularly original; she just goes with the tide. The flow in the first and more colloquial term, which dates from the late 1900s, alludes to the ebb and flow of tides and probably gained currency because of its appealing rhyme.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
go with the flow
COMMON If you go with the flow, you let things happen to you or do what other people want, rather than trying to control what happens yourself. This year I'm going to leave my troubles and tension in the departure lounge and go with the flow. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow of creativity.
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012
go with the flow
be relaxed; accept a situation. informalThe image here is of going with the current of a stream rather than trying to swim against it.
1997 J-17 Go with the flow today. You can't change the way things are going to pan out, so just let it all happen.
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
go with the ˈflow
(informal) be relaxed and not worry about what you should do: He’s very stubborn so there’s really no point in trying to change his mind. It’s best to just go with the flow.• ebb → the ebb and flow (of somebody/something)Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
go with the flow
and go with it in. to cope with adversity; to accept one’s lot. No, just relax and go with the flow.
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
go with the flow
Go along with the crowd, be amenable to what others are doing. The “flow” in this late twentieth-century colloquialism alludes to the ebb and flow of tides. The phrase, which undoubtedly owes its popularity to the rhyme, describes a laid-back demeanor, as in “I don’t care which restaurant they pick; I’ll just go with the flow.”
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer