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expressions - Phrase to say that something which happened twice already is likely to happen again


In French, there is the expression "jamais deux sans trois" (literally: "never twice without a third [time]").


We use it to express that something which has already happened twice is likely to happen again.


Can someone point to a good, idiomatic, English equivalent?



Answer



I'm not superstitous but I have often heard more superstious people say:



Bad things come in threes!



so that might be something. This is most often said after occurence two in anticipation of occurence three.


I would have thought "jamais deux sans trois" would be more like "never twice without a third [time]", and I guess I would suggest that while not an idiomatic expression there is nothing wrong per se with a basic translation as a phrase.



If it happened twice, it will probably happen again!



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