plain sailing
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˌpleɪn ˈseɪlɪŋ/
homophone: plane sailing
rhymes: -eɪlɪŋ
Forms: form: plane sailing
Etymology: From plain (adjective) + sailing.
Sense 2 (“something that is easy, simple, or straightforward”) is attested slightly later than plain-sailing (adjective), and so could have been derived from it.
Senses: topics: nautical
transport
glosses: The navigation of waters free from hazards or unfavourable winds.
examples: text: […] I hired a Tonquineſe for about a Dollar to be my guide. This, tho but a ſmall matter, vvas a great deal out of my Pocket, vvho had not above 2 Dollars in all, vvhich I had gotten on board, by teaching ſome of our young Seamen Plain Sailing.
ref: 1699, William Dampier, “Some Vessels Sent from Cachao to Tenan to Fetch Rice. […]”, in Voyages and Descriptions. Vol. II. […], London: […] James Knapton, […], →OCLC, part I (His Voyage from Achin in Sumatra, to Tonquin, […]), page 90:
text: […] Me[r]cators Sailing gives the correct Difference of Latitude and Longitude both; Middle Latitude Sailing, only the correct Difference of Longitude; Plain Sailing gives neither correctly; and therefore their Merits are in Proportion.
ref: 1735, Benjamin Martin, “The Use of Decimals in Plain Trigonometry, and Other Mathmatical Sciences Depending thereon”, in A New Compleat and Universal System or Body of Decimal Arithmetick, […], London: […] J[ohn] Noon, […], →OCLC, page 322:
text: I doubt as hovv I've ſteered by a vvrong chart, d'ye ſee—as for the matter of the ſciences, to be ſure, I knovv plain ſailing and mercator; and am an indifferent good ſeaman, […]
ref: 1760 January – 1761 December, [Tobias George Smollett], “In which the Knight Resumes His Importance”, in The Life and Adventures of Sir Launcelot Greaves. […], Dublin: […] James Hoey, junior, published 1762, →OCLC, page 78:
text: [W]e have determined to go by way of Lisbon, […] and so on our old route to Malta and Constantinople, if so be that Captain Kidd, our gallant commander, understands plain sailing and Mercator and takes us on our voyage all according to the chart.
ref: 1809 June 25, Lord Byron, “Letter XXXV. To Mr. Henry Drury.”, in Thomas Moore, editor, Letters and Journals of Lord Byron: With Notices of His Life, […], volume I, London: John Murray, […], published 1830, →OCLC, page 188:
topics: nautical
transport
glosses: Obsolete spelling of plane sailing (“a technique for navigation using the assumption that the journey occurs over a plane or flat surface rather than the actual curved surface of the Earth, which is sufficiently accurate over short distances”).
examples: text: [H]e ſhould give himſelf fair play, by trying his hand vvith the rudiments, vvhich vvould no ſooner be run over, than the reſt vvould become plain ſailing: […]
ref: 1796, [Frances Burney], “Studies of a Grown Gentleman”, in Camilla: Or, A Picture of Youth. […], volume I, London: […] T[homas] Payne, […]; and T[homas] Cadell Jun. and W[illiam] Davies (successors to Mr. [Thomas] Cadell) […], →OCLC, book I, page 73:
text: After this [the whale's tongue] was hoisted in, the rest of the way was plane sailing, the blubber of the body being cut and peeled off, in huge unbroken strips, as the carcass rolled over and over, being heaved on by the windlass, then hooked into by the blubber hooks, and hoisted in by the men all the time heaving at the windlass.
ref: 1850, Henry T[heodore] Cheever, “Raising and Cutting-in Whales”, in The Whale and His Captors; or, The Whaleman’s Adventures, and the Whale’s Biography, […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC, page 58:
text: Life is not plain-sailing, and writers on Life must not put themselves in antagonism with their subject. Life is the sphinx; and they who see no mystery in her utterances—they who essay not to guess her riddles—what can their lot be but swift destruction?
ref: 1853, “An Æsthetic Tea”, in William Harrison Ainsworth, editor, Ainsworth’s Magazine, volume XXIII, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, page 78:
text: Yes, it was all plain sailing now. How long had it taken him to win her—three years? He had loved her for three years.
ref: 1887, H[enry] Rider Haggard, “Frank Muller’s Familiar”, in Jess, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC, page 251:
text: Hovstad. Do you think that will be all such plain sailing? / Dr. Stockmann. Plain sailing or no, it has got to be done, anyway.
ref: 1911, Henrik Ibsen, “An Enemy of the People: A Play in Five Acts”, in R[obert] Farquharson Sharp, transl., edited by Ernest Rhys, Ghosts; The Warriors at Helgeland; An Enemy of the People (Everyman’s Library; no. 552), London: J[oseph] M[alaby] Dent & Sons; New York, N.Y.: E[dward] P[ayson] Dutton & Co., published 1949, →OCLC, Act II, page 168:
text: Let us admit that without the proper clues the gospels are, to a modern educated person, nonsensical and incredible, whilst the apostles are unreadable. But with the clues, they are fairly plain sailing. Jesus becomes an intelligible and consistent person.
ref: 1915 December (date written), [George] Bernard Shaw, “Androcles and the Lion. Preface on the Prospects of Christianity.”, in Androcles and the Lion, Overruled, Pygmalion, London: Constable and Company, published 1916, →OCLC, pages xxiv–xxv:
text: In another fifty yards there was a second turn, this time toward the left! but it was more of a gentle curve, and we took it without trouble. After that it was plain sailing, though as far as I could know, there might be almost anything ahead of us, and my nerves strained to the snapping-point every instant.
ref: 1918 September–November, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “The Land That Time Forgot”, in The Blue Book Magazine, Chicago, Ill.: Story-press Corp., →OCLC; republished as chapter IV, in Hugo Gernsback, editor, Amazing Stories, part I, number 11, New York, N.Y.: Experimenter Publishing, February 1927, →OCLC, book I, page 998, column 1:
text: At Tebay however, he began to get the mastery over these untoward conditions, and actually got back a little time up to Shap, after which all was plain sailing.
ref: 1941 November, Cecil J[ohn] Allen, “British Locomotive Practice and Performance”, in The Railway Magazine, London: Tothill Press, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 484:
text: It was not all plain sailing for Chelsea, however. First David Davis saw his strike tipped over before Slawomir Peszko surged clear of [John] Terry and [Gary] Cahill and rounded Ross Turnbull before shooting into the side netting.
ref: 2012 September 25, “Chelsea 6 – 0 Wolves”, in BBC Sport, archived from the original on 08 Apr 2023:
text: But it's not been plain sailing for those planning the new route. The second half of the line from Dudley to Brierley Hill has run into financial difficulties, as a result of rising construction and operation costs.
ref: 2023 April 5, Peter Plisner, quoting Anne Shaw, “West Midlands Metro Metamorphosis”, in Rail, number 980, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 33:
text: And he enjoys conversations with regulators despite not always seeing eye to eye with them, according to another person close to him. But it has not been plain sailing.
ref: 2024 July 13, Laura Onita, Eleanor Olcott, “Shein's master of reinvention treads tricky path to IPO”, in FT Weekend, page 11:
synonyms: word: child's play
word: smooth sailing
word: walk in the park
word: bagatelle
word: breeze
word: cake and gingerbread
word: cakewalk
word: child's play
word: cinch
word: doddle
word: doss
word: duck soup
word: easy pickings
word: gimme
word: layup
word: low-hanging fruit
word: no-brainer
word: open and shut case
word: picnic
word: piece of cake
word: piece of piss
word: plain sailing
word: plane sailing
word: slam dunk
word: snap
word: walk in the park
word: walkover
glosses: Something that is easy, simple, or straightforward; something that offers no difficulties or trouble.
Related terms: word: plain-sailing