against the stream

against the stream

In opposition or contrary to what is generally understood, assumed, practiced, or accepted. My idea of adopting more eco-friendly habits was against the stream, but I think it will be worth it for the company in the long run. I don't understand why you always have to swim against the stream instead of making things a little easier on yourself!
See also: stream
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

against (or with) the stream

against (or with) the prevailing view or tendency.
See also: stream
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • against the grain, to go
  • be/go against the grain
  • go against the grain
  • go against the stream
  • go, swim, etc. with/against the stream/tide
  • contrary to
  • contrary to (something)
  • challenge the status quo
  • against (one's) principles
  • eco nut
References in periodicals archive
"Those [Israeli Arabs] who decide that their identity is Palestinian will be able to forfeit their Israeli citizenship and move and become citizens of the future Palestinian state," he wrote in the manifesto, entitled Swimming Against the Stream, published on his Facebook page and his party's website.
With the headline "Swimming Against the Stream", Lieberman stated: "Those [Palestinians in Israel] who decide that their identity is Palestinian will be able to concede their Israeli citizenship and move and become citizens of the future Palestinian state.
Interpol is urging the international community to conduct a coordinated effort against the stream of foreign fighters joining extremists in the Middle East, Associate Press (AP) reports.
TEHRAN (FNA)- Interpol is urging the international community to conduct a coordinated effort against the stream of foreign fighters joining extremists in the Middle East, reports said.
Rumsey placed the model into a fast-running little stream and the current spun the wheel, which moved the poles alternately against the stream bottom.
The popular Newcastle club with its unique spirit and shabby charm was also the cluttered home where Keith lived and breathed jazz, standing - in the words of his god-daughter Abi Lewis - "like an island against the stream of modern culture".
Director Abi Lewis told how the film will portray a man "who stands like an island against the stream of modern culture".
SWIMMING AGAINST the stream, Lucio Magri joined the Communist Party of Italy (PCI) in 1956 and rose quite rapidly through the ranks until the expulsion of his Il Manifesto group in 1970 sent him into the revolutionary left for more than a decade (an evidently painful interlude about which he says little more than that he allowed himself to be deluded by extremism).
Aircel, on the other hand, has been going against the stream. The operator recently launched a new tariff plan that makes roaming across voice, SMS and data services free.
Mr MacAirt said: "These stories at times are harrowing especially when set against the stream of governmental black propaganda which the state used to criminalise our innocent family members.
I know we swim against the stream a bit because people don't believe that.
"It's going against the stream of worldwide traffic."
Yet it is precisely this odyssey, one that runs against the stream of dominant cultural narratives, that Rhea Tregebov charts in The Knife Sharpeners Bell.
"Soviet Jews in Israel have never voted against the stream," he says.