them's the breaks
English
Etymology
US origin. This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.
Pronunciation
Audio (AU) (file)
Proverb
- (idiomatic) That is the way things happen; that's life.
- 2022 July 7, Heather Stewart, quoting Boris Johnson, “Boris Johnson’s resignation speech: what he said, and what he meant”, in The Guardian:
- And I want you to know how sad I am to be giving up the best job in the world. But them’s the breaks.
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Synonyms
- that's the way the cookie crumbles
- that’s the breaks or them’s da breaks.
Further reading
- Eric Partridge (2005), “them's the breaks”, in Tom Dalzell and Terry Victor, editors, The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, volume 2 (J–Z), London; New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →ISBN, page 1948.
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