English · Proverb Candidate

if you can't beat them, join them

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

If you can't win or succeed, cooperate or participate instead

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

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Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: defeating or joining an opposing group

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. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.

Common questions

What does “if you can't beat them, join them” mean?

If you can't win or succeed, cooperate or participate instead Literally: defeating or joining an opposing group

Is “if you can't beat them, join them” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

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