NEVER GIVE A SUCKER AN EVEN BREAK Definition & Meaning

Never give a sucker an even break

Don't hesitate to take advantage of a fool.

Discover More

This saying served as the title for one of the films of the comedian W. C. Fields.

Discover More

Idioms and Phrases

Don't allow a person who's easily duped a fair chance, as in He's always trying to give out expired coupons for his store, firmly believing in never giving a sucker an even break. Probably a direct quotation, it has been attributed to showman P. T. Barnum (responsible for the oft-quoted “There's a sucker born every minute”); and comedian W. C. Fields (who popularized it in one of his films); and theater manager Edward Francis Albee, the most probable of the three. [Slang; early 1900s]

Discover More

Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Fields taught 76 years ago: Never give a sucker an even break.

From

So the phrase "never give a sucker an even break", which is a premise that has always made bowlers carry on when perhaps a rest from injury might be more advisable, would not apply.

From

Never give a sucker an even break, said WC Fields, but that is what Chris Tremlett's back and hamstring niggle has done with Bresnan.

From

Never give a sucker an even break, 'cause it's dog eat dog all along the line.

From Time Magazine Archive

"Never give a sucker an even break," "All horse players die broke," "How to live with women: Don't."

From Time Magazine Archive

never fear never hear the end of

Browse

51�Թ�