rising tide, a

rising tide, a

A strong trend. The ocean’s tides have been transferred to the flow of events and feelings since Shakespeare’s day. Indeed, Shakespeare wrote, “There is a tide in the affairs of men, which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune” (Julius Caesar, 4.3). A strong upward trend, as signified by the cliché, may refer to public support, as in Benjamin Jewett’s statement (The Dialogues of Plato, 1875), “He would stem the rising tide of revolution.”
See also: rising
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • comedy of errors
  • rose by any other name, a
  • that's the rub
  • there is/lies the rub
  • there(in) lies the rub
  • therein
  • there's the rub
  • here's the rub
  • be all Greek to someone
  • Greek to me
References in periodicals archive
As glaciers and ice caps melt, Louisiana is losing land to the sea and barrier islands are gradually slipping beneath the watery surface, drowned by a slowly rising tide, a process suggested by the cover photo.