| Definitions | | against the grain |
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idiom - (idiom) Contrary to what is expected; especially, of behavior different from what society expects.
- By going and going to work nude, you've made yourself a laughing stock.''
- To sand or plane a piece of wood parallel or nearly parallel to the fibers such that splinters forming ahead of the tool originate below the cutting surface
- Unwilling. It went much against the grain with him, i.e. it was much against his inclination, or against his pluck.
See: wikipedia: plane (tool)
Etymology: Popularized by wikipedia:William Shakespeare, William Shakespeare in the play wikipedia:Coriolanus (play), Coriolanus. This figurative has literal origins in woodworking, where carving against the grain is undesirable because the resulting surface is not smooth.
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