Meaning
Used to say that a task, process, or stretch of progress is easy, straightforward, and free of obstacles once it is under way. The form 'plain sailing' is standard in British English, while 'smooth sailing' is the usual American equivalent. Neutral to reassuring; especially common in the negative as a warning that something will not be easy. Regional use: General English.
Origin
The phrase comes from plane sailing, a genuine navigation method that treats the sea's surface as a flat plane so courses and distances can be worked with simple trigonometry, instead of the laborious Mercator sailing that allows for the earth's curvature. The earliest print citation is Adam Martindale's 1683 collection with 'plain-sailing made more plain and short', and the 'plane' spelling first appears in James Atkinson's 1749 navigation manual. Because 'plain' and 'plane' were interchangeable in 17th-century spelling, the printed order cannot prove which came first, but reference works agree the underlying sense is the flat-plane navigation method rather than a literal remark about easy voyages. Figurative use is recorded from Frances Burney's novel Camilla (1796), where the rest of a plan 'would become plain sailing'.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- clear sailing
- plane sailing
- smooth sailing
Usage Examples
- The first year of the renovation was chaos, but after that it was plain sailing.
- Once the software handles the data imports automatically, the migration should be plain sailing.
- It will not be plain sailing for the new manager, however strong the squad looks on paper.