English Language & Usage Asked by Kat Sosnick on December 11, 2020
Is there a phrase that is the opposite to “A rising tide lifts all boats”?
I am looking to use it in the context of financial markets. “A rising tide lifts all boats” means stocks move in an upward direction in a bull market. How so I describe when they all indiscriminately go down at same time?
On a similarly nautical theme "They're all in the same boat" could be worked into a sentence to get something close. This phrase implies that they have a shared fate; usually with negative connotations.
Answered by JeffUK on December 11, 2020
The opposite of the above statement is that a falling tide sinks all ships. As per DJClayworth in the comments.
Beyond this, I fail to see the fascination with trying to connect one idiom to another. Aren't idioms supposed to be illogical, non-literal and unconnected bits of speech? Unique bits (with their own unique opposites).
Answered by Rem on December 11, 2020
Wolfgang Mieder, A Dictionary of American Proverbs (1992) suggests three (seemingly related) sayings that use rain as a metaphor. The most familiar of these (noted by Greybeard in a comment beneath the posted question) is
Rain falls alike on the just and the unjust.
The sense here is that when large-scale trouble occurs, there is no discrimination between victims on the basis of their personal virtue or vice.
A similar sentiment is expressed in this alternative saying:
All who travel in the rain get wet.
...except that here the question of personal merit doesn't come up at all.
A slightly different take on the underlying idea appears in this saying:
The rain that rains on everybody else can't keep you dry.
That is, the particular misfortunes that others suffer in a general calamity don't immunize you from injury or even (in any practical sense) reduce your own exposure to harm.
Answered by Sven Yargs on December 11, 2020
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