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This popular saying, meaning

when troubles come they come together (especially if you are unfortunate),

has a clear negative connotation.

I am looking for a saying or expression that conveys just the opposite idea: lucky things happen continually to lucky people.

Edit: not the duplicate suggested by @Hot Licks - I am clearly asking about a different saying...and I am asking for its opposite.

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    Nice question. In Dutch (and I believe in German as well) there is the saying that the devil shits on the biggest pile. Notwithstanding the negative connotations of the devil, this saying actually is very positive, meaning that luck always favours those that are already lucky. (Used when a rich person wins the lottery, for instance.) – oerkelens Apr 09 '14 at 09:25
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    I'm not sure but almost sure there's no one idiom that fits. – Kris Apr 09 '14 at 11:22
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    It looks like I'm the odd one out, but I've used and heard "When it rains, it pours" for both positive and negative sitations. – dj18 Apr 09 '14 at 16:02
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    @dj18 yup, that's how I know it too, and for both positive and negative. – Doktor J Apr 09 '14 at 21:39
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    Just throwing my hat in the ring for the case of the term in the title being usable for both positive and negative - just today a relative used this exact expression in the context that when she finally got a job offer, she actually got 3 of them on the same day. – Chris O'Kelly Apr 10 '14 at 06:29
  • Possible duplicate of Good Things Come In Threes - has a definite positive connotation. – Hot Licks Dec 28 '15 at 13:44
  • @HotLicks - I am clearly asking about a different saying...and I am asking for its opposite...in what sense is it a duplicate? please read my question!!! –  Dec 28 '15 at 14:17
  • @Josh61 - Did you look at it? – Hot Licks Dec 28 '15 at 17:31
  • @Hot Licks , yes and my question is also older than the other one. –  Dec 28 '15 at 17:36
  • Let me get this straight -- you're asking for the opposite of the expression that is the opposite of the expression in the noted answer? – Hot Licks Dec 28 '15 at 17:39
  • I asked it in April 2014,the other user asked that in November 2014, and you are saying mine is a duplicate? I will ask for mods opinion. –  Dec 28 '15 at 17:48

11 Answers11

9

Perhaps born under a lucky star

Very fortunate, as in Peter comes out ahead no matter what he tries; he was born under a lucky star.

bib
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King James Bible, Luke 19:26

For I say unto you, That unto every one which hath shall be given; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him.

As is often the case with such observations, the reason for this depends on who you are...

Poor person: "You're so lucky! You've had everything handed to you on a silver plate."
Rich person: "Quit whining! I make my own luck."

The idea that "luck begets luck" (i.e. - people who have been lucky in the past are more likely to be lucky in the future) is encapsulated in various idiomatic expressions...

hit a lucky/winning streak
be on a roll
be "jammy" - BrE slang, often applied to an undeservedly "lucky" person.

EDIT: I can't resist sharing this one, which sits alongside my "rich man" above...

The Harder I Practice, the Luckier I Get

As explained in that link, the origins are murky. No-one really knows when or how it started.

FumbleFingers
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  • Of course we know that being lucky in the past has no effect on how lucky you are in the future. (Aside from any potential behavioural changes(or monetary as money makes money with less risk) arising from your luck influencing poor/good decision) :). This of course doesn't invalidate this answer by any means – Cruncher Apr 09 '14 at 15:01
  • @Cruncher: As it happens, I was just reading Dawkins' The Magic of Reality: How We Know What's Really True last night, where he says something like "If a tossed coin has just turned up heads 999 times in a row, how likely is it to be heads on the next* toss?"* And as he sensibly points out, only a dumb-ass would say it's 50-50 (it's *far* more likely to be heads again, since the most likely reason for the previous run is that the coin has been somehow "doctored"). – FumbleFingers Apr 09 '14 at 15:11
  • @FumbleFingers a gambler would say that the next throw would be tails. – kotekzot Apr 09 '14 at 15:42
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    FumbleFingers: I read that as "If a fair coin is tossed..." instinctively because that's how many stats problems start :). And of course this an example of reason, not luck. @kotekzot Frankly, I have no respect for people that gamble at below 50% expected value. – Cruncher Apr 09 '14 at 15:54
  • @kotekzot: People in general (and most gamblers in particular) are usually hopeless at understanding how "chance" works. As I understand it, every week 10-20 thousand half-wits bet on 123456 in the UK National Lottery. Presumably each one of them thinking "I'm so smart! Since I know that all permutations are equally likely, I'll bet on 123456 (because all the stupid people will avoid it, so if it does come up I won't have to share the winnings)." Never underestimate the power of human stupidity (especially the kind of stupidity that thinks it's smart). – FumbleFingers Apr 09 '14 at 15:55
  • @Cruncher: Successful betting depends entirely on the ratio between the offered odds and the actual likelihood. Suppose someone was prepared to repeatedly offer me odds of 100:1 against throwing double six with a pair of dice. Even though I'd have a less than 3% chance of winning on any single throw, I'd be certain to win over the long-term. And the odds would be so good I would always take that bet even for a "one-off" (so long as I could reasonably stand the loss that would be a 97% chance). – FumbleFingers Apr 09 '14 at 16:03
  • @FumbleFingers Yes, that's covered by expected value. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expected_value. To be fair, I used the terminology wrong. I should have said people that gamble with a negative expected value. (that is expected to lose money in the long run) – Cruncher Apr 09 '14 at 16:29
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"lucky things happen continually to lucky people".

neutral ones would be

you reap what you sow

you get out what you put in

Good things come to those who wait.

unrelated

Good things come in small packages

Best match

Good things come in threes.

The last one is probably the closest one I can come up with.

I.e. once lucky twice more lucky. And if you were lucky the last third time, what is preventing you from being lucky a 4th 5th and nth time?

Community
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DisplayName
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This popular saying... has a clear negative connotation

Well actually, the saying: When it rains it pours can be used in both positive and negative situations:

From dictionary.com:

When something good or bad occurs, it usually occurs more than once and often within a short period of time:

So using this saying in a positive way is fine.

Edit: I just noticed that this point was also mentioned in the comments to the question

Danield
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Would “the rich get richer” capture part of what you intend? There is a Wikipedia article about this phrase, complete of the “and the poor get poorer” part, which is a kind of corollary.

DaG
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  • Rich get richer and poor get poorer refer more to a condition or ability in my opinion. In this case it is more a question of luck or good fortune, that tend to happen to those who already are rich and/or fortunate. –  Apr 09 '14 at 10:18
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    Perhaps the meaning that is nearer to the one you describe, and that I meant is the one Wikipedia attributes to the use in statistics: «In statistics, the phrase "the rich get richer" is often used as an informal description of the behavior of Chinese restaurant processes and other preferential attachment processes, where the probability of the next outcome in a series taking on a particular value is proportional to the number of outcomes already having that particular value.» – DaG Apr 09 '14 at 10:25
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I think the expression "Living a charmed life" could come into play here.

RyeɃreḁd
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The adjective "happy-go-lucky" has a meaning which approaches the opposite of "It never rains but it pours." The less you worry, the luckier you are likely to get.

user58319
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There are probably a few such phrases, but far fewer than those that comment on or predict misfortune.

Good things come to those who wait is one.
All things are possible to those who work is another.
Born with a silver spoon in your mouth (to have opportunities that you did not earn but that you have from the influence of your family) does denote good things, but not earned, and therefore not looked upon kindly by the less privileged.

I hope others can think of some. It's an interesting question.

anongoodnurse
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"Chance is a lady who smiles only upon those few who know how to make her smile."

"Luck is the idol of the idle."

Elian
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For youth:

..."golden boy," occasionally "golden girl," rather than "golden child." I have taken it to mean a boy or girl so favored by nature as to be almost guaranteed success and popularity. As for origins, I know only that it was heard often in the previous century, at least in writing.

Third News
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I think 'having a streak of good luck' comes close...

From http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/streak

  • streak of good luck and string of good luck: a series of fortunate events
  • lucky streak and *streak of luck: fig. a series of lucky wins in gambling or games.
Keneni
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    Welcome to ELU. You should consider explaining your choice more. I agree, but we typically try to make our answers more robust than that. – David M Apr 09 '14 at 16:45