What you lose on the swings you gain on the roundabouts
Meaning: Life's ups and downs balance out over time; temporary losses in one area offset by gains elsewhere.
Origin: From fairground life: a showman who owned both swings and roundabouts might lose money on one and make it back on the other. P. G. Wodehouse used it in his novel Love Among the Chickens (1906), and the poet Patrick Chalmers popularized it in his poem "Roundabouts and Swings" (1912). It has since become the British way to say that gains and losses even out.
More proverbs about Wisdom
- Wins on Sunday, sells on Monday — Quick early success often masks underlying weakness, inviting premature confidence before…
- You can't be half pregnant — A condition either exists completely or not at all; commitment cannot be partial or ambig…
- You can't make a silk purse of a sow's ear — Inferior materials cannot be transformed into superior products through effort alone.
- You can't run with the hare and hunt with the hounds — Loyalty to opposing sides simultaneously is impossible; you must choose which faction to…
- You don't dip your pen in company ink — Romantic entanglements with colleagues create workplace conflicts and jeopardize professi…
- You don't miss the water till the well runs dry — We overlook what sustains us until deprivation forces us to recognize its true value.
From our false friends
- Simpatichny (Симпатичный) (Simpatichnyy) — Actually means 'good-looking' or 'likeable'. For sympathetic, say сочувствующий (sochuvst…
- Aktualny (Актуальный) (Aktualnyy) — Actually means 'topical' or 'currently relevant'. For actual (real), say настоящий (nasto…
- Artist (Артист) (Artist) — Actually means 'performer' — an actor, singer or circus artiste. A painter is художник (k…