Browse phrases beginning with: [A][B][C][D][E][F][G][H][I][J][K][L][M][N][O][P][Q][R][S][T][U,V][W][X,Y,Z] Plain sailingMeaning An easy, uncomplicated course. Origin This is a nautical phrase and originally had the literal meaning of 'sailing that is easy and uncomplicated'. It isn't clear whether the allusion is to the 'simple, uncomplicated' meaning of plain or whether it referred to an easy-to-navigate sea, in the 'level, flat' sense. A citation of it in this original naval meaning comes from Adam Martindale in 1683, in A Collection of Letters for Improvement of Husbandry & Trade:
The first use of it in a figurative sense, meaning simple 'easy and uncomplicated' comes in Fanny Burney's Camilla, 1796:
See also - Nautical Phrases. |