Learn English – What does the phrase “taking a bath with the crowd” mean

idiomsphrases

I recently heard the phrase "taking a bath with the crowd" and that apparently it's a common idiom in many European languages. I found several results for the phrase on Google, but none that explain what it means. Does anyone know what the phrase means, and if there's a common (American) English phrase that means the same thing?

Best Answer

Stéphane's suggestion, “to mingle with the crowd”, may well reflect the intended meaning of the speaker of the phrase. But note that in English, the phrase “take a bath” often is associated with a stock-market loss (1, 2); since the European idiom is not well-known in the U.S., I'd expect American English speakers to either associate your phrase with taking a loss in the market (along with a crowd of other investors) or to interpret the phrase literally.