'swings and roundabouts' what the hell does it mean i just don't get it. All these types of sayings just go over my head.
2006-10-19 00:40:29 · 18 answers · asked by lozenge 1 in Education & Reference ➔ Quotations
it means its more or less the same thing... swings and roundabouts do different things but they are still the same thing - a playground toy...
2006-10-19 00:42:55 · answer #1 · answered by Jackie 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The full saying is usually given nowadays as: "What you lose on the roundabouts you gain on the swings" or vice versa. This was a reference, in an old poem, to a showground-owner's claim. In other words, on some days the kids would pay to pile onto the swings and provide his income, though the roundabouts were neglected. Obviously, it would be vice versa on other days. Today, of course, it applies to any such 50/50 or up/down situation. The poem ‘Roundabouts and Swings' is by Patrick Chalmers and here are the appropriate lines, after the poet asks the fairground-man what his work is like:
"Said he 'the job's the very spit of what it always were,
'It's bread and bacon mostly when the dog don't catch a hare,
'But looking at it broad, and while it ain't no merchant kings,
'What's lost upon the roundabouts, we pulls up on the swings."
2006-10-19 11:01:46 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Simply means is a slightly different type of the same thing swings and roundabouts are both playground items.
eg. should i take the a601 or the a 602 ti get to work answer it doesn't really matter it swings and roundabouts on the a 601 you'll get held up in road works on the a 602 you'll get held up at the traffic lights
2006-10-19 07:44:50 · answer #3 · answered by pete m 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
See it this way, swings means in life you have two extremes like in a swing where the experiences are different and roundabout means wherever you go you come to a full circle.
2006-10-23 01:56:53 · answer #4 · answered by Quizzing 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
SWINGS AND ROUNDABOUTS: This is a shortened version of the fairground proverb 'What you lose on the swings you win on the roundabouts', current from the beginning of the twentieth century in various forms. It is used to mean that things will balance out in the end
2006-10-19 07:43:57 · answer #5 · answered by bagmouss 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
There's ups and downs, some things go well and others don't but it all works out the same in the end.
It really doesn't have that much to do with actual roundabouts or swings
2006-10-19 07:42:58 · answer #6 · answered by SteveT 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Swings and Roundabouts: "What you lose on the swings, you gain on the roundabouts".
I remember my teacher at school saying it. Everything balances out in ...
2006-10-19 07:50:16 · answer #7 · answered by rams 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The saying is that what you gain on the roundabouts you lose on the swings. It means that although you might gain something in one place you lose it in another so you come out with nothing or where you first started.
2006-10-19 07:43:45 · answer #8 · answered by dragonrider707 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
it is about life, the ups and downs, "swings" we have good times and bad times. The roundabout refers to covering the same ground over and over again, in an emotional sense.
2006-10-19 07:57:35 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's a way fo saying you have to take the rough with the smooth.
Sometimes you go on the swings, sometimes it's the roundabout. You have to live with it. Everyone has a favourite, but you don't always get to just go on your favourite.
2006-10-19 07:44:09 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
"its all just swings and roundabouts"
Meaning = life is full of ups and downs and going round in circles
2006-10-19 07:49:45 · answer #11 · answered by Lauren 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋