first come, first served

See also: first-come-first-served and first come first served

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU):

  (file)

Proverb

first come, first served

1. (idiomatic) People will be dealt with in the order they arrive.

   Effective March 30, 2006, the State of Virginia no longer follows their “first come, first served” policy regarding allocation of multiple child support orders.

   - [1]

   • 2020 January 2, Philip Haigh, “Is there relief to congestion along Castlefield Corridor?”, in Rail, page 22:

     This complicated situation means that strategically managing services through the central Manchester area and beyond is not possible for signallers in the Greater Manchester area, and trains are invariably dealt with on a 'first come, first served' basis.

Derived terms

• first-come-first-served

Translations

people will be dealt with in the order they arrive

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 先到者，先招待 (xiān dào zhě, xiān zhāodài), 先到先招待 (xiān dào xiān zhāodài), 先到先得 (zh) (xiāndàoxiāndé)

• Czech: kdo dřív přijde, ten dřív mele
• Danish: den, der kommer først til mølle, får først malet
• Dutch: wie het eerst komt, het eerst maalt
• Finnish: ensiksi tullutta palvellaan ensin
• French: premier arrivé, premier servi (fr)
• German: wer zuerst kommt, mahlt zuerst (de)
• Icelandic: fyrstur kemur, fyrstur fær
• Italian: chi prima arriva meglio alloggia
• Japanese: 先着順 (せんちゃくじゅん, senchakujun)
• Korean: 선착순 (ko) (seonchaksun)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: den som kommer først til mølla, får først malt

• Polish: kto pierwszy, ten lepszy (pl)
• Portuguese: primeiro a chegar, primeiro a ser atendido
• Romanian: primul venit, primul servit
• Russian: пе́рвым при́был — первым обслу́жен (pérvym príbyl — pervym obslúžen), в поря́дке поступле́ния (v porjádke postuplénija), в поря́дке живо́й о́череди (v porjádke živój óčeredi), поздний гость гложет и кость (pozdnij gostʹ gložet i kostʹ)
• Slovene: kdor prej pride, prej melje
• Spanish: por orden de llegada
• Swedish: först till kvarn (sv), först till kvarn får först mala
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Ukrainian: please add this translation if you can

Related terms

Similar phrases using elliptical causation ("if/then"):

• another day, another dollar
• fall seven times, stand up eight
• finders, keepers
• in for a dime, in for a dollar
• in for an inch, in for a mile
• in for a penny, in for a pound
• laugh before breakfast, cry before supper
• least said, soonest mended
• mo' money, mo' problems
• no body, no crime
• no cross, no crown
• no fears, no tears
• no guts, no glory
• no harm, no foul
• no hero, no villain
• no losers, no winners
• no pain, no gain
• nothing ventured, nothing gained
• once bitten, twice shy
• out of sight, out of mind
• waste not, want not

References

• Gregory Y. Titelman, Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings, 1996, →ISBN, p. 99.

Adjective

first come, first served (not comparable)

1. Alternative spelling of first-come-first-served

See also

• FIFO