Idiom: What goes around comes around

Status
Not open for further replies.

bmo

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 24, 2003
Dear teachers:

Hope you are not tired of the many idioms I have been asking. I know the meanings but just not in depth. for example:

1. "What goes around comes around" and "What comes around goes around. " They must be identical, right?

2. Always bad? If it can be both, then it's like "Good deed brings fortune; bad deed brings misfortune." Close? Now I am talking about karma and reincarnations.

Thanks a bunch.

BMO
 

RonBee

Moderator
Joined
Feb 9, 2003
Member Type
Other
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
"What goes around comes around" means that if a person does something bad something bad will happen to him. I guess it's kind of like karma. I have never heard the other expression.
 

bmo

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 24, 2003
idioms: what goes around comes around

RonBee said:
"What goes around comes around" means that if a person does something bad something bad will happen to him. I guess it's kind of like karma. I have never heard the other expression.

Thanks a lot.

BMO
 

MW

Member
Joined
Jul 26, 2004
Member Type
Student or Learner
Do unto others as you would have others do unto you, because they eventually will.

Or, do unto others before they do unto you.

Some people believe in karma. If you say nice things about others, others will say nice things about you.
 

bmo

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 24, 2003
Thanks.

Are you saying "what goes around comes around" means both ways?
 
K

Kid A

Guest
@bmo: D'you mean with "what goes around comes around" the great song which is written by Lenny Kravitz?
Thank you for the question, I've always asked myself what this idiom could mean. :)
 

dov1dyre

New member
Joined
Feb 2, 2010
Member Type
Student or Learner
So both "what goes around comes around" and "what comes around goes around" can be used? Or is the last one completely wrong?
 

digitS'

Member
Joined
Jan 13, 2010
Member Type
Other
Native Language
English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
So both "what goes around comes around" and "what comes around goes around" can be used? Or is the last one completely wrong?

I don't know about completely wrong. The actor acts and the universe reacts.

If what "goes" is positive; what "comes" is positive. If what "goes" is negative; what "comes" is negative.

I think that, "Good deed brings fortune; bad deed brings misfortune" is, indeed, very close. And, someone used this idiom long before Lenny Kravitz used it in a song.

Steve
 

nitikasnv

Junior Member
Joined
Jan 9, 2010
Member Type
Student or Learner
Answer:

Hi,

What comes around goes around and what goes around comes around is same.

Meaning:used to say that if you are bad and not kind, bad things will happen to you, and if you are good and kind, good things will happen to you

ex: 'He ended up with nobody looking after him.' 'Well, what goes around comes around.'

Thanks
 

Majeste

Member
Joined
Jan 21, 2010
Member Type
Student or Learner
In Turkish, "Ne ekersen, onu biçersin.". :)

People have to take care of something they do, before they don't do it. If they do it, they can face some problems.
 

magimagicE

Member
Joined
Mar 2, 2010
Member Type
Other
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
China
Current Location
UK
Think of a bad penny (unit of currency, usually a coin). If you put one into circulation then it will eventually come back to you.

I usually associate the saying "What goes around comes around" with rumours.

If you start a nasty rumour about someone then, eventually, you yourself will become the subject of a nasty rumour (or you will bear the consequences of it). When this happens, the victim of the first (original) rumour can say to the offender, with a degree of satisfaction, "What goes around comes around".

However, depending on context, this saying can have positive as well as negative connotations. And, it is very similar to the proverb that MW stated above.


"What comes around goes around" holds a different meaning to me. I often hear it used in conversation with the meaning "to respond in kind": "An eye for an eye,...".
 

joyjoy

New member
Joined
Jul 29, 2008
Member Type
Student or Learner
I argued with my friend about this sentence. I quite agree with you. But my friend said: It may be go around, after a circle, it will come back but in a high level. That means, all of its skill, ability ... are higher like a spiral. What do you think about his interpretation? I really do not convince him.
 

digitS'

Member
Joined
Jan 13, 2010
Member Type
Other
Native Language
English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
It is difficult to respond to ideas about Karma (destiny).

If an act is simply on the level of response to the environment, I don't suppose that there is necessarily a "spiral upward" of action and response, just as there would not necessarily be a spiral downward.

If the element of intention plays in, then I suppose that it may well strengthen the act.

Responding "in kind" or "an eye for an eye" certainly brings in intention and raises the seriousness of the action.

We can all easily play the victim. It is a role that is such an effective tactic. It allows a justification to how we treat others. Often, that justification is inconsistent with how we wish others to treat us. The psychologists call this cognitive dissonance. The results are likely to be tragic.

As Mohandas Gandhi observed, "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."

Steve
 

Ripley7700

Member
Joined
Jun 20, 2010
Member Type
Academic
I have mainly heard this as "what goes around comes around" in the USA. The first and ONLY time I have heard "what comes around goes around" is with the Manhattan clothes designer of that name. If you think about the difference between the meanings of "go around" and "come around", this makes sense. "Comes around" means to return or turn around, or even to "come back full circle." For example, if you disagree with someone, and she eventually changes her mind, she is said to have "come around" to your idea. "Goes around" does not have the same "return" or "turn" connotation, at least to me as a native English speaker. So, to have the meaning that someone will eventually experience what he does to other people (as in karma), it should be "what goes around comes around" and not "what comes around goes around." I don't think most people in the USA would notice if you used both. I would, though! :) I am not an English teacher, so this opinion is based on my experience in speaking and not on a text book or dictionary.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top