etymology - Origin of "Whatever floats your boat"


I was wondering when and how the expression "Whatever floats your boat", meaning "What makes you happy; what stimulates you" (Wiktionary) came to be.


My research hasn't yielded anything which could be described as objective. Thus, I'll leave the urban dictionary and reddit assumptions aside. The ngram shows a steep rise starting in the early 80s. However, I was not able to pinpoint a definite source.


Can anyone shed light on this issue?




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