# beer and skittles

idiom

Source: https://englishreference.com/idiom/beer-and-skittles
Updated: 2026-08-10

## Meaning

Fun times; pleasure and leisure.

## Examples

- Life is not all beer and skittles.
- Being a professional athlete is not always beer and skittles.
- Studying for medical exams is definitely not beer and skittles.
- You should remember that running your own business is hard work and not just beer and skittles.
- The new parents quickly realized that raising a newborn involves many sleepless nights rather than being all beer and skittles.
- Even though the vacation looked like beer and skittles on social media, we actually spent most of the time dealing with lost luggage.
- She warned her younger brother that university life requires discipline and is not just beer and skittles every weekend.
- While he had expected his new life abroad to be all beer and skittles, he soon discovered the harsh realities of finding steady employment.

## Origin

Found as early as 1837, in Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens, where it appears in the form, “It’s a reg’lar holiday to them—all porter and skittles”. The most common form, as a negative admonition, appears to have been popularized by Thomas Hughes in Tom Brown's School Days (1857, see quotation below).

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.