Between you and me

[0998] Smooth sailing

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English Idioms
All Idioms

Explanation

  • A situation, process, or period of time that is progressing easily without any problems, obstacles, or difficulties.

Origin

  • A literal nautical term. When the weather is calm and the sea is smooth, a ship can sail easily and without trouble.
  • Metaphorically applied to life situations since at least the mid-19th century to describe effortless progress.

Synonyms & Related Expressions

  • Easy going
  • Plain sailing (Especially UK/Commonwealth)
  • Trouble-free
  • Without a hitch
  • Going swimmingly
  • A walk in the park (Implies extreme ease)
  • A breeze (Implies extreme ease)
  • Everything's under control

Alternatives

Slang/Informal:

  • It's all good / All good
  • No sweat (No difficulty)
  • Easy peasy (lemon squeezy) (Childish or humorous, very informal)
  • A cinch (Very easy)
  • Cruising / Just cruising (Progressing easily and steadily)
  • On cruise control (Progressing automatically and easily)

Milder/Standard:

  • Proceeding without difficulty
  • Everything is going according to plan
  • No problems encountered
  • Trouble-free
  • Effortless progress

Situational Appropriateness

  • Appropriate in a wide range of contexts, from informal chats to semi-formal business updates.
  • Conveys ease and lack of problems effectively.

Misunderstanding Warnings

  • Generally well-understood. The metaphor of easy movement on calm water is quite intuitive.

Examples

  • Once we got the funding approved, the rest of the project was smooth sailing.
  • How's the new job? So far, so good! Pretty smooth sailing, actually.
  • We were hoping for smooth sailing on our vacation, but the airline lost our luggage.

Dialogue

Project Manager: How did the software deployment go over the weekend? Any issues?

IT Specialist: Nope, surprisingly none at all. We followed the plan, and everything went off without a hitch. It was smooth sailing from start to finish.

Project Manager: Fantastic! That's a huge relief. Thanks for the update.

Social Media Examples

  • Facebook Update: Moved into the new apartment! Unpacking was chaos, but the actual move day was smooth sailing. Huge thanks to my helpers!
  • LinkedIn Post: Happy to report our Q3 targets were met ahead of schedule! After a challenging Q2, this quarter felt like smooth sailing. #BusinessSuccess #Teamwork
  • Tweet: First transatlantic flight with the baby nervous but hoping for smooth sailing! 🙏✈️ #TravelWithKids

Response Patterns

Often met with agreement, relief, or expressions of hope.

  • That's great to hear!
  • Good, I'm glad.
  • Let's hope it stays that way.
  • Fingers crossed. (Hope it continues)
  • Knock on wood. (Superstitious expression to ward off bad luck after stating something positive)

Common Follow-up Questions/Actions

  • Might inquire about specifics: Oh yeah? What's been going so well?
  • Might express cautious optimism: Famous last words! Hope no problems crop up.
  • The conversation often moves on, accepting the positive status update.

Conversation Starter

  • No. Usually used as a description or status update in response to a question (e.g., How's it going?) or as a comment on a situation.

Intonation

  • Generally said with a positive, calm, or relieved tone.
  • Emphasis on SMOOTH SAILING.
  • It's been SMOOTH SAILING ever since.

Generation Differences

  • Widely understood and used across all generations.

Regional Variations

  • Smooth sailing is common everywhere.
  • Plain sailing is a very common equivalent, particularly in British and Commonwealth English.
Between you and me
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