Word.ws English Dictionary

you break it, you buy it

you break it, you buy it proverb: if you damage, harm or destroy something, you are responsible for repairing it or accepting the consequences.

Proverb

you break it, you buy it

  1. (figuratively) If you damage, harm or destroy something, you are responsible for repairing it or accepting the consequences.
    • In perhaps history's greatest instance of “you break it, you buy it,” the wartime imperial government bought millions of gallons of unused vodka.2010, Mark Lawrence Schrad, The Political Power of Bad Ideas: Networks, Institutions,, page 131
    • Diplomats need to make it clear that we completely eschew the "you break it, you buy it” rule. In the future, we'll break it if others force us to.2011, Anna Simmons, Joe McGraw, Duane Lauchengco, The Sovereignty Solution: A Common Sense Approach to Global Security, page 140
  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see break, buy.

Origin of you break it, you buy it

From the Pottery Barn rule – a policy by which a retail store may hold a customer responsible for damage done to products or merchandise on display –, usually phrased in this manner.

Questions about you break it, you buy it

What does you break it, you buy it mean?
You break it, you buy it means if you damage, harm or destroy something, you are responsible for repairing it or accepting the consequences.
What part of speech is you break it, you buy it?
You break it, you buy it is a proverb.

Words near you break it, you buy it in the dictionary

  1. you beauty
  2. you bet
  3. you betcha
  4. you better believe it
  5. you break it, you bought it
  6. you break it, you buy it
  7. you buy cheap, you get cheap
  8. you call this
  9. you can beat the rap, but you can't beat the ride
  10. you can catch more flies with honey than vinegar
  11. you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: you break it, you buy it (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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