Make Waves

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🗓️ Idiom: Make Waves (v)

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💬 Meaning

• To cause a noticeable impact or attract attention, often by doing something new, different, or disruptive.
• To create change, stir up strong reactions, or challenge the status quo.

🧠 Example Sentences

• The new marketing campaign really made waves across social media.
• Her bold product launch strategy made waves in the industry.
• Startups often make waves by offering something the big players haven’t considered.

🏛️ Origin

The idiom “make waves” comes from the idea of disturbing calm water, symbolising disruption or noticeable effects. In a figurative sense, it began appearing in the mid-20th century to describe people or actions that challenge norms or attract attention.

📝 Practice Exercises

1. Fill in the blank:

The influencer’s video campaign __________ and boosted the brand’s visibility overnight.

Answer

made waves

2. Choose the correct meaning of “make waves”:

A) To keep things quiet and unchanged
B) To cause a noticeable impact or reaction
C) To relax and take it easy

Answer

B) To cause a noticeable impact or reaction

3. Rewrite the sentence using the idiom:

“Their new advertisement attracted a lot of attention and started conversations.” → Change the sentence using: make waves

Answer

Their new advertisement made waves and started conversations.

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ℹ️ Other Useful Pages

👉 Marketing and Sales Idioms
👉 Business English Idioms List
👉 Student Space
👉 Tutor Toolkit

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