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What is the origin of the idiom 'What you gain on the swings you lose on the roundabouts'?
Wiki User
∙ 15y ago
It is believed to be a reference taken from an old poem referring to a showground-owner's claim. The poem, by Patrick Chalmers, includes the lines: "But looking at it broad, and while it ain't no merchant kings,
'What's lost upon the roundabouts, we pulls up on the swings."
Wiki User
∙ 15y ago
Wiki User
∙ 15y agoIt is a comparison about good & bad things in life. About the acceptance of good & bad, or taking the rough with the smooth, if I might mix a metaphor or 3. The swings are beneficial & the roundabouts are a setback, good & bad in equal measure.
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