[Idiom] Make waves

[Venus.jam]

Hi

I wonder if make waves is used to refer to something which may cause trouble as by questioning or resisting the accepted rules or it has also a positive connotation. In what contexts we can use this idiom?

If something “makes waves,” it means it causes wide impact on a group or society in general.The impact can be good, like a new technology improving the way everybody communicates – or it can be bad, like one country’s financial crisis affecting other countries, too. (https://www.espressoenglish.net/15-idiomatic-expressions-with-the-verb-make/)

2. "If someone makes waves, they cause a lot of trouble." (https://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/make+waves.html(

 

[Rover_KE]

In what contexts [STRIKE]we can[/STRIKE] can we use this idiom?

Click here and bookmark the site for future reference.

 

[GoesStation]

I wonder if "make waves" is used to refer to something which may cause trouble as by questioning or resisting the accepted rules or it has also a positive connotation.

Remember to surround text you're discussing in quotation marks or to set it in italics.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

And when you make waves, you rock the boat.

 

[Skrej]

A similar idiom is 'cause a flap'.

 

[Venus.jam]

A similar idiom is 'cause a flap'.

Thank you all. But, I did not get any answer to my question yet.:-(

 

[Skrej]

Did you read the examples linked in post #2?

 

[Venus.jam]

Click here and bookmark the site for future reference.

So the examples show that the second definition is not an appropriate one and "make waves"has both a positive and negative connotations. Am I right?

 

[Raymott]

It can have either positive or negative connotations.
Your 2. is not completely wrong. Causing trouble can be referred to as "making waves", but not if it's enough trouble to sink the boat, so to speak.

 

[Tdol]

I have slightly changed the definition.