English · Idiom Attested

go with the flow

In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

Accept a situation.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

chấp nhận tình huống

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Examples

Lots of people are fed up with the way their lives are headed but they don't often take the trouble to do anything about it.

Just by opting for a more left field occupation you're putting yourself on the edge a bit It really does take a bit of bottle to do that and find your own way through the maze rather than just go with the flow.

British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)

Sources & notes

Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Figurative class: Metaphor (PIE-English corpus, CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31).

Equivalents & related

Near equivalent lạc trôi (verb) to go with the flow; to float with the stream Tiếng Việt Near equivalent xuôi chiều (verb) to go with the flow; to conform; to be agreeable Tiếng Việt

Common questions

What does “go with the flow” mean?

Accept a situation.

Is “go with the flow” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

What is the closest equivalent?

“lạc trôi” (Tiếng Việt) — near equivalent.