go with the flow

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.) Here, flow is used in the sense of "direction of movement."

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go with the flow (third-person singular simple present goes with the flow, present participle going with the flow, simple past went with the flow, past participle gone with the flow)

1. (idiomatic) To act as others are acting, conforming to common behavior patterns with an attitude of calm acceptance.
   • 2016 August 28, Tom McCarthy, quoting Reince Priebus, “Reince Priebus on Trump campaign hires: ‘I go with the flow’”, in The Guardian‎:

     “Look, you know, I go with the flow based on what the campaign wants to do,” Priebus told NBC’s Meet the Press. “I think Kellyanne is doing a phenomenal job. I don’t know Steve Bannon, to tell you the truth, very well.”

   Synonyms: blow with the wind, float with the stream

• ride with the punches
• take things as they come