go with the flow

English

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.) Here, flow is used in the sense of "direction of movement."

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Verb

go with the flow (third-person singular simple present goes with the flow, present participle going with the flow, simple past went with the flow, past participle gone with the flow)

1. (idiomatic) To act as others are acting, conforming to common behavior patterns with an attitude of calm acceptance.

   Synonyms: blow with the wind, float with the stream

   • 2016 August 28, Tom McCarthy, quoting Reince Priebus, “Reince Priebus on Trump campaign hires: ‘I go with the flow’”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     “Look, you know, I go with the flow based on what the campaign wants to do,” Priebus told NBC’s Meet the Press. “I think Kellyanne is doing a phenomenal job. I don’t know Steve Bannon, to tell you the truth, very well.”

Translations

to act as others are acting

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 隨波逐流 / 随波逐流 (zh) (suíbōzhúliú)

• Finnish: mennä virran mukana
• French: faire comme tout le monde
• German: mit dem Strom schwimmen (de)
• Greek: να πηγαίνεις με τα νερά τους (na pigaíneis me ta nerá tous)
• Polish: iść z nurtem
• Portuguese: deixar-se ir na onda
• Russian: плыть по тече́нию (ru) (plytʹ po tečéniju)
• Serbo-Croatian: okrenuti se kako vjetar puše
• Spanish: ir con la corriente, contemporizar (es)
• Swedish: följa med strömmen
• Walloon: hoûler avou les leus et bawer avou les tchéns (wa)

See also

• ride with the punches
• take things as they come