Idiom
what happens twice happens thrice
Meaning
An event that happens two times will happen three times.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“I lost my keys again, and what happens twice happens thrice.”
“The bus is late again, and what happens twice happens thrice.”
“I missed two goals, and I fear what happens twice happens thrice.”
“After the computer crashed for the second time this morning, I knew it would crash again because what happens twice happens thrice.”
“My neighbor's dog escaped for the second time this week, so I am watching my garden closely because what happens twice happens thrice.”
“You have already spilled your coffee twice today, so please be careful with that third cup since what happens twice happens thrice.”
“The historian noted that the empire had suffered two major invasions, and given that what happens twice happens thrice, he feared a third attack was imminent.”
Examples
simple
“I lost my keys again, and what happens twice happens thrice.”
“The bus is late again, and what happens twice happens thrice.”
“I missed two goals, and I fear what happens twice happens thrice.”
contextual
“After the computer crashed for the second time this morning, I knew it would crash again because what happens twice happens thrice.”
“My neighbor's dog escaped for the second time this week, so I am watching my garden closely because what happens twice happens thrice.”
“You have already spilled your coffee twice today, so please be careful with that third cup since what happens twice happens thrice.”
complex
“The historian noted that the empire had suffered two major invasions, and given that what happens twice happens thrice, he feared a third attack was imminent.”
Origin
A direct calque of the Japanese 二度ある事は三度ある, translating to the observation that a thing which occurs twice will inevitably occur a third time. The English iteration of the proverb mirrors the Japanese original, providing a numerical template for the arrival of misfortune.
Key words
Related idioms
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