Smooth Sailing

The opposite of rough sailing, smooth sailing implies particularly easy progress with little effort required.

Smooth sailing would be sailing in calm waters.

Example: In a normal election year, incumbent politicians (those who are running for re-election) usually have smooth sailing when running against their challengers. Incumbents generally raise much more money than those who would challenge them; failing this, they have established political connections, name recognition, and existing public support. The 2010 mid-term elections appear to be an exception to this general rule; incumbents are endangered by widespread dissatisfaction with the government and its management of the stagnant U.S. economy.

Rough Sailing

Rough sailing is an abbreviation for rough weather sailing or sailing in rough waters. This gives the impression of very difficult progress requiring much greater effort than normal progress.


Example: Thanks to widespread disaffection with Congress and the generally poor state of the national U.S. economy, Democrats have rough sailing ahead of them as they approach the mid-term elections in November. While dissatisfaction with both parties is high, Democrats, who enjoy majorities in the House and Senate, possess power, and therefore, have much more to lose from general dissatisfaction with government.

A Blip

Unlike a wave, "a blip" is a reference to a signal given off by radar (originally an acronym, now treated as a noun) indicating the presence of a real object at a given moment in time.

In trends, a figurative "blip" means a temporary event that is not, or is not yet known to be, part of a larger trend.


Example: "Today's upswing in national employment figures is believed to be a blip caused by a one-time event, and is not expected to be sustained until consumer confidence improves."

This is to say, the positive change is temporary, and not a trend... according to this statement, at least.

A Wave

In idioms, "a wave" is any significant, sustained change. This can be positive, but is often used in a negative manner.

Example: "The slumping economy has produced another wave of bankruptcies among small American businesses."

This means, a significant, sustained change, though not a permanent one.

Jumping The Shark

The phrase "jumping the shark" began as the expression of a single person's opinion as to where the once extremely popular American television show, "Happy Days," began a permanent decline away from its peak until the moment it ended. 


In this show, a major character became involved in a water-skiing race. A shark in a netted area of the ocean was to be jumped over as the tiebreaker for the race. This was seen by many as completely ridiculous, and a vivid sign of the declining creativity of the writers of the show. When shows become fully mature, their story lines tend to have already exhausted the best material, leaving second-rate material until the show mercifully comes to an end.

Example: "I think that ____ jumped the shark when..."

Just replace ____ with a given television show, and the idiom is being used correctly.

Rarely, some television shows are considered to have never declined, and maintained a high level of quality right until their final conclusions.

Heading Downhill

When something is figuratively heading downhill (that is, going downhill), it is in decline; it is past its peak and deteriorating.


Example: "After our old boss quit, things headed downhill for about six months until the new manager had learned how everything works. Productivity rose steadily after that point."