Easy come, easy go

¹

1. Things easily acquired may be lost just as easily.

easy come, easy go

²

1. A phrase suggesting lack of concern over how things turn out, and particularly over money: “She never took things very seriously; ‘easy come, easy go’ was her motto.”

This saying is often used after something has been lost.

Idioms and Phrases

Readily won and readily lost, as in Easy come, easy go—that's how it is for Mark when he plays the stock market. This phrase states a truth known since ancient times and expressed in numerous proverbs with slightly different wording (lightly come, lightly go; quickly come, quickly go). The adverb easy was substituted in the early 1800s.

Example Sentences

Those requirements changed the meaning of time in airports, forcing travelers to cushion their trips with buffers that turned airports from easy come, easy go public places to highly secured obstacle courses.

From Slate

When layoffs are done remotely, managers may not fully feel the human cost of their decisions, Sutton said: It’s “a little bit easy come, easy go.”

From New York Times

Mr. Gerber responded, “easy come, easy go …”

From New York Times

He sings famous lyrics including "easy come, easy go, little high, little low", and "any way the wind blows".

From BBC

“Easy come, easy go!” she shouted into the crackling autumn air.

From Literature