what goes around comes around

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what goes around comes around

Where it comes from

First attested in the 1950s in sense 1, originally in African-American English.

proverb what go round come round · what goes round comes round · what comes around goes around

A person's actions, whether good or bad, will often have consequences for that person. So lonely in your bed / Does breakin' me make you feel good? / Guess you don't understand / What goes around, comes around
Things repeat in cycles. Unfortunately, the main proposal in the current XML era bears a striking resemblance to the CODASYL proposal from the early 1970’s, which failed because of its complexity. Hence, the current era is replaying history, and “what goes around comes around”. Hopefully the next era will be smarter.

Translations

Every language

proverb actions have consequences

Español	todo cae por su propio peso, donde las dan las toman
한국어	뿌린대로 거둔다 ppurindaero geodunda
日本語	因果応報 inga-ōhō, 業によりて果を引く gō ni yorite ka o hiku, 自業自得 jigōjitoku
中文	善有善報，惡有惡報 /善有善报, 恶有恶报 shànyǒushànbào, èyǒu'èbào, 種瓜得瓜 /种瓜得瓜 zhòngguādéguā, 種豆得豆 /种豆得豆 zhòngdòudédòu, 媳婦熬成婆 /媳妇熬成婆 xífù áo chéng pó, 因果循环，报应不爽。
हिन्दी	जैसा कर्म करोगे वैसा ही फल मिलेगा jaisa karm karoge vaisa hī phal milegā
Português	quem semeia ventos colhe tempestades, aqui se faz, aqui se paga, você colhe o que planta, o mundo dá voltas, tudo que vai volta, chumbo trocado não dói
Français	on récolte ce que l'on sème, qui sème le vent récolte la tempête, toute action a des conséquences
Deutsch	wie man in den Wald hineinruft, so schallt es heraus, man erntet, was man sät, wie man sich bettet, so liegt man, die Vergangenheit holt einen immer ein, das kommt davon, sowas kommt von sowas
Italiano	chi semina vento raccoglie tempesta, chi la fa l'aspetti, si raccoglie ciò che si semina
Română	Dumnezeu nu bate cu parul
Русский	как ау́кнется, так и откли́кнется kak aúknetsja, tak i otklíknetsja, что посе́ешь, то и пожнёшь što poséješʹ, to i požnjóšʹ
Tiếng Việt	ác giả ác báo, đời cha ăn mặn, đời con khát nước, gieo nhân nào gặt quả nấy
العربية	كَمَا تَدِينُ تُدَان kamā tadīnu tudān
עברית	שלח לחמך על פני המים כי ברבות הימים תמצאנו, מה שנותנים ־ מקבלים, כל אחד מקבל בסוף מה שמגיע לו, הגלגל מסתובב, גלגל חוזר בעולם

proverb things repeat in cycles

Français	l'histoire se répète

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MLA

"what goes around comes around." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/what%20goes%20around%20comes%20around. Accessed 7 Nov. 2026.

APA

what goes around comes around. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 7, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/what%20goes%20around%20comes%20around

Chicago

"what goes around comes around." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 7, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/what%20goes%20around%20comes%20around.

BibTeX

@misc{what_goes_around_comes_around_2026,
  title = {what goes around comes around},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/what%20goes%20around%20comes%20around},
  urldate = {2026-11-07}
}