march to (the beat of) a different drummer

march to (the beat of) a different drummer

To behave or do things in a manner that does not conform to the standard, prevalent, or popular societal norm. My brother eschewed the idea of a full-time career, taking all kinds of different oddball jobs. But then he's always been happy marching to the beat of a different drummer. Look, I respect the fact that you like to march to a different drummer, but do you have to do everything in such contrarian ways?

See also: beat, different, drummer, march

march to (the beat of) a different drummer

Fig. to believe in a different set of principles. John is marching to a different drummer, and he doesn't associate with us anymore. Since Sally started marching to the beat of a different drummer, she has had a lot of great new ideas.

See also: different, drummer, march

march to (the beat of) a different ˈdrummer/ˈdrum

(also march to a different ˈtune less frequent) behave in a different way from other people; have different attitudes or ideas: She was a gifted and original artist who marched to a different drummer.

See also: different, drum, drummer, march