Easy come, easy go means that what you get easily, you lose just as easily. People say it when money or a thing came without effort and disappeared just as fast: winnings, something you found, a gift. The tone is calm, with no regret: it's gone, never mind. People don't say it about money they worked hard for, because then the loss really hurts.
When would you say easy come, easy go?
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Easy come, easy go.; Oh well, easy come, easy go; ..., but easy come, easy go
- I found twenty pounds on the street and spent it on pizza the same evening. Easy come, easy go!
- He won a free trip in a radio contest but couldn't get the days off work. Oh well, easy come, easy go.
What changed
First versionI won fifty pounds in a quiz and lost it in a bet the same night. Easy came, easy went.
RevisionI won fifty pounds in a quiz and lost it in a bet the same night. Easy come, easy go.
The story is in the past, so it's tempting to use came and went. But easy come, easy go is a fixed formula, like a motto: its verbs don't change, whatever the story is about. The original forms come and go were put back.
Don't confuse it with come and go, which describes things that appear and disappear on their own: Trends come and go. Easy come, easy go is about losing something easily and not minding.
Your turn
I found £50 in an old jacket and lost it on a silly bet the next day. Oh well, ___!
Show the answer
easy come, easy go — The £50 turned up in an old jacket, so it came without effort, and it went just as easily, and the speaker doesn't mind: easy come, easy go. No pain, no gain means you have to work hard to achieve something; it's about the value of effort, not about a loss.
Describe how money or a thing came easily to you or someone you know and disappeared just as fast. Say where it came from and what it went on.
My brother got a £100 gift card for his birthday and spent it all on video games in one evening. Easy come, easy go.
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