them's the breaks

English

Alternative forms

• those are the breaks, them’s da breaks

Etymology

US origin. This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Phrase

them's the breaks

1. (idiomatic) That is the way things happen; that's life.

   Synonyms: that's the way the cookie crumbles; see also Thesaurus:that's life

   • 2022 July 7, Heather Stewart, quoting Boris Johnson, “Boris Johnson’s resignation speech: what he said, and what he meant”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     And I want you to know how sad I am to be giving up the best job in the world. But them’s the breaks.

Further reading

• Eric Partridge (2005) “them's the breaks”, in Tom Dalzell and Terry Victor, editors, The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, volume 2 (J–Z), London, New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →ISBN, page 1948.