Happy Friday!
This weeks fun phrase is ” Go against the grain.”
Meaning: To take action that seems unnatural or illogical. It is hard work when you saw or plane a piece of wood against the “grain,” meaning the direction of growth of the tree from which the wood came. By extension, it means to do anything in a way that is unduly difficult or runs against ones instincts.
History: Shakespeare had an extended meaning in Coriolanus where the tribune Sicinius says:
Say, you choose him
More after our commandment than as guided
By your own true affections ; and that your minds,
Preoccupied with what you rather must do
Than what you should, made you against the grain
To voice him consul: lay the fault on us .
