what happens twice happens thrice
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
If something happens twice, it will likely happen again.
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
nếu điều gì xảy ra hai lần, nó có thể xảy ra lại
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
I've locked my keys in the car twice this month, so I'm sure what happens twice happens thrice.
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (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 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “what happens twice happens thrice” mean?
If something happens twice, it will likely happen again.
Is “what happens twice happens thrice” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.