easy come, easy go
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
Indicates something acquired without effort may be spent casually.
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Sources & notes
Listed on Wikipedia “List of proverbial phrases” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Figurative class: Parallelism (PIE-English corpus, CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31).
Equivalents & related
Common questions
What does “easy come, easy go” mean?
Indicates something acquired without effort may be spent casually.
Is “easy come, easy go” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.
What is the closest equivalent?
“dể được, dể mất” (Tiếng Việt) — near equivalent.