English · Proverb Candidate

what you lose on the swings you gain on the roundabouts

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Also seen as: what you gain on the swings you lose on the roundabouts

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

Gains and losses balance each other out

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Lợi nhuận và tổn thất cân bằng lẫn nhau

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: childhood playground equipment

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 “what you lose on the swings you gain on the roundabouts” mean?

Gains and losses balance each other out Literally: childhood playground equipment

Is “what you lose on the swings you gain on the roundabouts” formal or informal?

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

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