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rock the boat

Disturb a stable situation, as in An easygoing manager, he won't rock the boat unless it's absolutely necessary. This idiom alludes to capsizing a small vessel, such as a canoe, by moving about in it too violently. [Colloquial; early 1900s]

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Example Sentences

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Whether from a calculation of how best to maintain the status quo or from simple lack of imagination, authoritarians generally do not want to rock the boat.

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Rather than rock the boat in times of trouble, Walter has practiced patience when it comes to personnel decisions.

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“Right now I might say, ‘We don’t rock the boat, let’s not go to Toronto and Montreal.’

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Fabian remains a conundrum — is he just a “don’t rock the boat” ladder-climber or is it more sinister?

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That guarantee may no longer stand now she is has handed over the reins, although her approach was widely regarded as sensible and Amazon are unlikely to rock the boat too much.

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rock steady rock thrush

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