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!

Comments

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