life isn't all beer and skittles

life isn't all beer and skittles

A full life is not just composed of simple pleasure, fun, and indulgence—there must also be toil and hardship. A: "What do you mean I have to get a job this summer? That is such crap!" B: "Sorry, kid. Life isn't all beer and skittles, and you've gotta start paying your own way." These trust-fund babies know nothing of having to work for a living. To them, life is all beer and skittles.
See also: all, and, beer, life, skittle
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

Life isn't all beer and skittles.

Prov. Life is not pleasurable all the time; you cannot always be having fun. (Skittles is a game like bowling.) I don't really mind going back to work when my vacation is over. Life isn't all beer and skittles, and I enjoy my fun that much more because I have work to compare it to. When George's parents stopped supporting him, George suddenly discovered that life isn't all beer and skittles.
See also: all, and, beer, life, skittle
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • school of hard knocks
  • the school of hard knocks
  • burst
  • hard knocks
  • be no quarter given
  • life isn't all rainbows and unicorns
  • life isn't all sunshine and rainbows
  • feel pinched
  • give (someone) no quarter
  • be given no quarter
References in classic literature
Life isn't all beer and skittles; but beer and skittles, or something better of the same sort, must form a good part of every Englishman's education.