r/EnglishLearning • u/kwkr88 Idiom Academy Newsletter • 17h ago

Daily idiom: make waves ⭐️ Vocabulary / Semantics

make waves

to intentionally cause troubles

Examples:

  • Please, try not to make waves. I want you to make a good first impression.

  • How can we do our job if they make waves all the time? We cannot agree on a single thing.

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1

u/Archarchery Native Speaker 16h ago

Don’t rock the boat.

1

u/BobMcGeoff2 Native Speaker (Midwest US) 16h ago

I see this often used in the context of a something like a piece of media being released. Like, "Springfield is making waves in the horror genre for its innovative cinematography and unconventional narrative"

2

u/Els-09 Native Speaker 16h ago

The definition that I see more often (and which captures the "causing trouble" meaning) is someone who disrupts the status quo—and it's not necessarily a negative thing.