bad things come in threes

English

Etymology

Rooted in human predispositions for such cognitive biases as pareidolia and superstition.

Proverb

bad things come in threes

1. If one unfortunate event has already occurred, a second and third are likely to occur; if two, a third should be expected.

   Antonym: good things come in threes

Coordinate terms

• it never rains but it pours
• misfortunes never come singly

Translations

several unfortunate events usually occur together

• Arabic: لا تأتى المصائب فرادى (literally “misfortunes don't come singly”)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: (no exact equivalent exists) 禍不單行 / 祸不单行 (zh) (huòbùdānxíng)

• Finnish: ei kahta ilman kolmatta (literally “no two without a third”) (not exclusively of bad things)
• French: jamais deux sans trois (fr)
• Italian: non c'è due senza tre (literally “there is no two without three”) (also “good things come in threes”)
• Polish: nieszczęścia chodzą parami (pl) (lit. misfortunes come in pairs)
• Portuguese: please add this translation if you can