if you're born to be hanged, then you'll never be drowned
if you're born to be hanged, then you'll never be drowned
proverb If someone is destined to die in a particular way, no other type of injury or disaster will kill them. A: "I can't believe Paul's doing so well after getting rescued by the lifeguard." B: "Well, you know what they say—if you're born to be hanged, then you'll never be drowned."
See also: born, drown, if, never
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
If you're born to be hanged, then you'll never be drowned.
Prov. If you escape one disaster, it must be because you are destined for a different kind of disaster. (Sometimes used to warn someone who has escaped drowning against gloating over good luck.) When their ship was trapped in a terrible storm, Ellen told her husband that she feared they would die. "Don't worry," he replied with a yawn, "if you're born to be hanged, then you'll never be drowned."
See also: born, drown, if, never
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
- teach a man to fish
- it takes a village
- village
- a burnt child dreads the fire
- burnt
- bad workers always blame their tools
- better bend than break
- best-laid plans go astray, the
- the best-laid plans
- the best-laid plans of mice and men