what goes around comes around
what goes around comes around
proverb One's actions or behavior will eventually have consequences for one, even if indirectly. The phrase typically refers to one being a victim of the same negative circumstances that they have inflicted on others. Russ picked on me back in high school, and now he has his own bully. What goes around comes around.
See also: around, come, goes, what
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
What(ever) goes around, comes around.
Prov. The results of things that one has done will someday have an effect on the person who started the events. So he finally gets to see the results of his activities. What goes around, comes around. Now he is the victim of his own policies. Whatever goes around comes around.
See also: around, come, goes, what
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
what goes around comes around
1. When people say what goes around comes around, they mean that if you behave in a bad way, bad things will eventually happen to you, and if you behave in a good way, good things will eventually happen to you. If they do something wrong, they believe that what goes around comes around. I just think what goes around comes around, and I'm hoping that in the past I've done something for somebody and it's come back to me.
2. People say what goes around comes around to mean that things that go out of fashion later come back into fashion. In fashion what goes around comes around, and men are now wearing 1920's style trousers. These ideas are similar to those being suggested forty years ago. What goes around comes around.
See also: around, come, goes, what
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.
what goes around comes around
the consequences of your actions will have to be dealt with eventually. proverbSee also: around, come, goes, what
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
what ˌgoes around ˈcomes around
(saying) the way somebody behaves towards other people will affect the way those people behave towards them in the future: I feel a little sorry for her but I guess she never helped anyone and what goes around comes round.See also: around, come, goes, what
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
what goes around comes around
A person’s bad deeds will earn revenge; also, what has happened before will recur. According to the linguist Margaret G. Lee (American Speech, winter 1999), this expression originated as an African proverb and came into general use via African-American speech. Kevin Cullen used it in an article about the failed peace-keeping efforts in Kosovo: “But what goes around always comes around in the Balkans, and today Albanians are exacting their revenge, killing Serbs” (Boston Globe, April 22, 2000). Jon Cleary, in Dilemma (1999), wrote, “When I was young, condoms were for stopping pregnancies. Then they tell me, sales fell right away when the Pill came in. Now the condom is back as armour-plating [against infection]. What goes around comes around.”
See also: around, come, goes, what
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
- as one door closes, another (one) opens
- as one door closes, another one opens
- as one door closes, another opens
- give (someone) an inch and (someone) (will) take a mile
- give (someone) an inch and (someone) (will) take a yard
- drive (one) out of office
- force (one) out of office
- force out of office
- give (one) (one's) head
- give someone their head