chickens come home
Past actions rebound
Chickens come home is short for "chickens come home to roost"—the idea that past actions eventually return to affect the person responsible.
Just as chickens wander during the day but return to their coop at night, consequences find their way back: All those lies are coming home to roost.
The phrase typically implies deserved misfortune.
- roostBird's sleeping spot
- karmaSpiritual cause and effect
- bad karmaAccumulated spiritual consequences
- what goes aroundActions returning to sender
- consequencesResults of actions taken
reckoning · day of reckoning · payback · pay the piper · retribution · justice · just deserts · harvest · reap · sow · fate · nemesis · dues · return · haunt · backlash · vengeance · judgment
- animal expressionslet sleeping dogs lie, raining cats and dogs, curiosity killed cat, horse sense, wild goose chase
- proverbsproverbs, sayings, maxims, adages, aphorisms
- consequencesconsequence, consequences, result, results, effect
chickens come homeget away with it
off the hook · scot-free · slip through the cracks · beat the rap · walk away clean
chickens come homelet sleeping dogs lie
Avoid rekindling dormant issues
water under the bridge · forgive and forget · statute of limitations · clean slate · fresh start
chicken, chickens, come, comers, home, homely, homeward, homeless, homework