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rock the boat
rock the boat
1. Lit. to do something to move a boat from side to side, causing it to rock. (Often in a negative sense.) Sit down and stop rocking the boat. You'll turn it over!
2. Fig. to cause trouble where none is welcome; to disturb a situation that is otherwise stable and satisfactory. (Often negative.) Look, Tom, everything is going fine here. Don't rock the boat! You can depend on Tom to mess things up by rocking the boat.
rock the boat
(informal) to do or say something that causes problems, especially if you try to change a situation which most people do not want to change We certainly don't want anyone rocking the boat just before the election. I tried to suggest a few ways in which we might improve our image and was told very firmly not to rock the boat.
See rock to its foundationsrock 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]
rock the boat
To disturb the balance or routine of a situation: He has an easygoing managerial style and won't rock the boat unless absolutely necessary.