you can't step in the same river twice
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Nothing remains the same forever
Literally: a person cannot step in the same river twice because the water is constantly changing
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
The company has changed so much since I left, you can't step in the same river twice
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 “you can't step in the same river twice” mean?
Nothing remains the same forever Literally: a person cannot step in the same river twice because the water is constantly changing
Is “you can't step in the same river twice” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.