Question

Go Against the Grain to oppose natural tendencies; to oppose a person's wishes or feelings; to cause anger

Accepted Answer

It really goes against the grain when Nikolai says that a woman wouldn't make a good class president. This is another phrase that William Shakespeare popularized in one of his plays. The grain of a piece of wood is the direction of growth of the tree from which the wood came. If you were to saw that wood "against the grain" (across, rather than in the direction of, the wood fibers), it would be hard work. In the same way, anything that someone does or says that goes against the grain would definitely annoy or trouble you. To use another popular expression, it would "rub you the wrong way" (see page 165).

Idiom	Go Against the Grain
Example	It really goes against the grain when Nikolai says that a woman wouldn't make a good class president.
Meaning	to oppose natural tendencies; to oppose a person's wishes or feelings; to cause anger
Origin	This is another phrase that William Shakespeare popularized in one of his plays. The grain of a piece of wood is the direction of growth of the tree from which the wood came. If you were to saw that wood "against the grain" (across, rather than in the direction of, the wood fibers), it would be hard work. In the same way, anything that someone does or says that goes against the grain would definitely annoy or trouble you. To use another popular expression, it would "rub you the wrong way" (see page 165).

Grain Wood Oppose Direction Nikolai Woman Make Good