whatever floats your boat
Appearance
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]The earliest evidence hints that figurative use of the phrase originated among pleasure boaters in the USA.[1][2]
Pronunciation
[edit]Audio (General Australian): (file)
Interjection
[edit]- (originally US) Do whatever makes you happy or stimulates you.
- Synonym: suit yourself
Derived terms
[edit]See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Tampa Bay Times, St. Petersburg, Florida, 1979 September 23, page 142: “You are the ultimate interior decorator for your boat. Remember there are no hard and fast rules, just go with whatever floats your boat.”
- ^ https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/345704/origin-of-whatever-floats-your-boat/532095#532095
Further reading
[edit]- Charles Clay Doyle, Wolfgang Mieder, Fred R. Shapiro, editors (2012), “Whatever floats your boat”, in The Dictionary of Modern Proverbs, New Haven: Yale University Press, →ISBN, page 23